Ruhig
by TheCloakedShadow
Summary: Sugawara Rui joins Karasuno High School over wishes to become close with her elder brother, but she doens't expect the true happiness she may find there...
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first haikyuu fic, and I started it because I really wanted to write an OC X KAGEYAMA story, as there seems to be barely any long fanfics in this category yet I've thought up so many different possibilities! Kags is so adorable so I really couldn't resist! My OC isn't a self-insert nor a mary sue (I think), and the volleyball club scene won't be fully in there for a few chapters I think, but our OC is Suga's little sister! I say this with all my fics, but my update goal is usually every week, but I may miss weeks when I busy in real life (the sadness), especially since at the moment I am still writing a divergent fic which I am nowhere near finished, I just felt like Haikyuu! Enjoy!:)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu. If I owned Haikyuu I would own Kageyama and then my life goal would be complete.**

I lie in bed, waiting for my alarm to ring. I've been restless all night, the prospect of high school casting a shadow over my mind. Karasuno High School is said to be a nice, normal school, but there was only one reason I chose it, I didn't even bother  
/applying to others, I just want to go to school with Koshi. Ever since he left middle school he's been distant from me, but we used to be so close. He doesn't even pretend we're fine anymore, doesn't hide the… hate is too strong a word, he doesn't  
/hide his dislike for me in his eyes.

I suppose Karasuno has other benefits, it's a fifteen minute walk from my house, it's reasonably high on the league tables for academics, which is important since I think I'm probably going to go into aerospace engineering, or in general vehicle engineering.  
/Not to mention the girl's basketball team was in the top 10 last year, so it's a reasonably high level. I should be worrying about making friends I guess, but that doesn't seem too important to me, I've always thought friends will just happen, if  
/they're good friends.

But I want to be closer with my brother, Sugawara Koshi.

12321

As soon as my alarm rings, I crawl out of bed and change into the school uniform, a simple white shirt with a short grey skirt and a burgundy bow round the neck. I add some long grey socks on, then brush my long, dark silver hair. It's quite a nice uniform  
/actually, though there is an optional pullover, it's a little yellow for my liking.

"Morning," I say as I enter the kitchen, where my mum is eating her breakfast. "Where's Koshi?" I ask, whilst reaching for some food.

"Didn't he tell you? He's heading to school early, something about Volleyball as usual. He's so dedicated your brother, going in early on the first day." As my mother speaks my energy lessens. I thought we'd be able to walk to school together, but then  
/again, he's 17, he probably thinks its lame to walk to school with your sister. Besides the setback, I start my walk to school on time.

After registering, lessons start straight away, in Class 3 most of the students seem quite quiet, which is good in my opinion. I've always made friends in clubs rather than lessons, as I do actually pay attention. Studying is supposedly so important,  
/but if I pay attention in lessons, I find remembering everything much easier.

It gets to lunch, and time for clubs. I go straight to the outdoor basketball courts after changing into sportswear, some black shorts and a white t-shirt, and tie my hair up.

I join the group of first years just in time before the basketball coach asks us to line up, and starts questioning our experience. I come at the end of the line, and the anticipation builds in me as the Coach is a retired national player in her 50s,  
/and very strict. She reminds me of the old ladies who live down every street, loud, authoritive, but will always let you off if you sugarcoat everything you say.

"Sugawara Rui?" Coach questions, and I nod.

"From Nagamushi Junior, Sensei." I speak straightly. "I have played for three years, mostly as Point Guard, but I am knowledgeable in all positions bar Centre.

"Nagamushi? Were you the first-string Point Guard, Sugawara?" Coach questions, and I nod sheepishly.

The coach smiles broadly. "You're allowed to mention you were the leading Point Guard of the national champions two years in a row!"

"But surely that is all different now, as new teammates mean a completely different team." I reply politely, smiling lightly at the other girls.

"Of course, let's start warm up!" The coach calls. The practice passes by, and I make friends with most of the other first-years, most notably Sato Chou, a tall dark haired girl who plays centre.

12321

Over the two weeks school sets it's pace, and Basketball positions are decided. I get put in as first-string Point Guard straight away, as there isn't a third year who plays Point Guard, whilst Sato-chan gets into second string.

I barely hear anything from Koshi. We've walked to and from school together a few times, but any questions I pose about the new year or school are immediately shut down. If I see him in the hallways he doesn't meet my eyes, though his best friend Daichi-san  
/always smiles. The only way we ever talk is if I ask about the boy's volleyball team, of which I know there are four new first-years, and that two of them are incredible, especially the setter. But I can see Koshi already working himself up, a prodigy  
/first-year with the same position as him…

So, when I see Daichi-san, and what looks like the rest of the boy's Volleyball team lurking round the basketball courts, I can't help but walk over.

"Daichi-san?" I question, gaining the attention of the entire volleyball team.

"Daichi-san? Do you know her?" A ginger kid questions.

"Waaaaa why do you know a pretty first-year Daichi?" A boy with a shaved head asks.

"Rui-chan, are you busy, do you need to be playing?" Daichi asks politely while I take in the slightly overbearing smiles the rest of the volleyball team are giving me. Except two of them, both extremely tall, a blond boy with glasses and a black haired  
/boy I believe is in my Class. Though I notice Koshi isn't here.

"No, Coach has the third-years playing while we watch. Do you need something? Is Koshi coming?" As soon as I ask the question Daichi-san gives me an apologetic look, as I'm sure he knows about the rift between Koshi and I.

"I'm not sure where Suga is, but we were wondering if we could ask a favour, from the whole volleyball team of course, including Suga." Daichi says with a smile plastered on his face.

"So you want something then." I conclude, placing a hand on my hip with my eyebrows raised.

"Ah yes… Suga wanted to ask if we could borrow the Basketball team's minibus for a practice match on Friday… you see we don't have one and the school one is being used for a school trip."

"Don't think you can name drop my brother and expect me to do anything foryou please Daichi-san." I say, but my tone is teasing.

"You're Suga's first-year sister? You're so pretty!" The boy with the shaved head says not so subtly and I give him a wry smile.

"Yeah… I wouldn't remind him of it if I were you. Come on, we'll have to ask coach, though we aren't using it." I lead them onto the court to approach coach who's sitting on the side.

"Coach? This is my brother's volleyball team, they were wondering whether they could borrow the minibus for a practice match on Friday. Sensei…" I trail off looking to Daichi to continue.

"Takeda-sensei would be driving us, Coach." Daichi-san says. "Please consider it, sensei!" And with that, the rest of the volleyball team echoes him in unison, before dropping down in a 90 degree bow.

"Volleyball team? I heard you did alright last year… what about basketball do any of you play?" Coach stands and questions them, shaking her finger at them.

"I played in junior high, coach!" A nondescript second-year answers.

"You did, did you? Well, how about you watch this match and then I'll make my decision!" Coach replies, and the volleyball club bows again and I motion to the benches.

"Thank you Rui-chan." Daichi says smiling, and I nod.

"I've never heard of Suga-san having a sister!" The shaved head boy speaks once again, and I turn to him.

"And you are?"

"Tanaka Ryunosuke! Come on everyone, introduce yourselves to Suga-san's sister!" He bows his head, and the rest of the club begin to follow on.

"Kageyama Tobio, we're in the same Class." The raven-haired boy nods his head and I smile in recognition.

"Yes, did you manage to finish the long Japanese history homework?" I ask in what I hope is a friendly tone, but he just shakes his head.

"No. I got bored, so I went to practice my serves."

I chuckle lightly.

"I'm Hinata Shoyo! Nice to meet you, Suga's never told us about you before!" My jaw tightens as the feeling of hurt rushes through me, but I nod lightly.

"Sure."

"Oh come on! Saito take a seat on the bench, you may not be first string but your upperclassmen now! You should be setting an example! Sugawara, go even up the playing field!" The coach yells and I bow respectfully before waving to Daichi as I go and  
/join the pitch.

Third Pov.

"No one mention her and Suga's relationship from here on out to her or Suga, it's a touchy subject." Daichi quickly orders as soon as Rui is far enough away.

"Why? Is something wrong? Suga must love his sister, he's like that!" Tanaka replies easily and Daichi sighs.

"Suga's been at ends with her for years now. Call it what you will, they were just born differently." Daichi says.

"Born differently?" Hinata questions.

"She seems just as nice as Suga, just prettier!" Tanaka says.

"No, they have reasonably similar traits. Hardworking, loyal, dedicated. I meant she tends to… succeed more. Look at her now." Daichi indicates to the fairly tall girl dribbling the basketball with ease. "I think she used to play volleyball, but she got  
/put on the starting line up in her first year of middle school, while Suga only ever got to play in his last year. She switched to basketball, and she became the leading player of her team and became national champion, and received best player two  
/years in a row. I heard she gets brilliant grades as well. Not to mention a lot of attention from the boys her age."

"She's top in our year." Kageyama says silently.

"Really? How can someone be so clever?" Hinata exclaims.

"She got top marks in entrance exams. It's been two weeks and we've been given her essay as example." Kageyama continues.

"Ah, so it's like that. We all know Suga's clever and studies hard, but despite being older, he told me he always feels like he's in her shadow." Daichi says.

"That sucks." Tanaka comments, and Daichi nods.

"She's doubled her teams score after playing for five minutes against the rest of her third year first stringers… that's reallygood." Ennoshita says.

"Yeah, I've always felt bad for her. She's quite modest about her achievements as well, there's just space between them. I hope it closes with her coming to Karasuno." Daichi explains, as the big, light grey eyed girl with defined curves jumps up to let  
/the basketball drop through the hoop.

Rui's POV

I can feel Daichi talking about me from here. Well, it's not like it's a secret anyway. As coach blows her whistle, I move over to Chou.

"Rui-chan, why were you sitting with all those boys… was that the third year who smiles at you in the corridors?" Chou-chan questions quickly, and I chuckle.

"Yes, that's Daichi-san. He's my brother's volleyball captain, that's his team. He has something he wanted to ask coach, so I sat with them. Was it a good game, did you see anything I could improve on?" I answer her, and she returns a smile.

"It was brilliant, of course it was Rui! I think Coach will probably tell you to dribble lower to the ground, you're taller so you have to lower your body more, you know, the usual." Chou replies and I scowl, it's always the same, but I can never remember  
/to fix it.

"Go on without me, I have to talk to coach." I tell her as we're dismissed.

"Coach, will the Volleyball team be able to use the minibus?" I ask, and she smiles at me.

"Great playing as usual, you still need to dribble lower! Everyone else is shorter, so you must do this! And yes, I suppose so." Coach replies.

"Do you think a basketball representative should go with them, to ensure the minibus isn't damaged?" I ask shyly, and Coach looks at me suspicious.

"It's your brother's team, right?"

"Yes, I want to go and support him, but I don't think he'd let me." I tell her honestly, and she lets out great barks of laughter.

"Go on then! Make sure they keep my bus clean!" She says, before walking off.

"Does that mean we are able to use the minibus?" Daichi-san asks, and I turn with a smile on my face.

"Yes, with one condition, that a basketball member escorts you to ensure the bus isn't damaged or dirtied." I tell him, and the volleyball team jump up in thanks.

"It will be good to have you with us, Rui." Daichi says to me and I grin.

"I'll be seeing you on Friday then!" I say to them collectively.

12321

It becomes Friday morning quicker than I realise, and though I miss Koshi in the morning, Kageyama approaches me before our first class.

"Please accept my apologies!" He says obediently bowing at his middle.

"Of course, of course!" I say, in attempt to stop him drawing everyone's attention. "What are your apologies for, you haven't done anything."

"The practice match today, it was requested that I play setter. I know you wanted to come to support Sugawara-senpai, but he won't be able to play." Kageyama explains, bowing his head multiple times. Concerned he may get whiplash, I place a hand on his  
/back and get him to take the seat next to me at the back.

"It's alright, calm down. Why was your playing setter requested?" Was he the prodigy setter Koshi told me of briefly?

"Most of my classmates from junior high go there, we ended middle school on bad terms. It's my guess that's why I was requested." He tells me, and I sigh.

"Then you couldn't have done anything about it. It's understandable, you shouldn't worry so much." I reassure him, fiddling with the bow at my collar. Kageyama is very tall, and his deep blue eyes are extremely striking paired with his raven hair, and  
/I can see a slight sheen on his skin.

"Did you have training this morning?" I ask, and he nods. "Was my brother there? Was he upset about not playing?"

"Sugawara-senpai was there. He said he wasn't bothered not playing, but… er… was a little distressed when Daichi-san told him you were coming." He says, and I can't stop the frown moving to my lips.

"I'm… I'm sure he just didn't want his little sister to see him on the bench." Kageyama says, in attempt to be comforting, so I give him a small smile. "Daichi-san said you used to play Volleyball. What position did you play?"

"Setter. The equivalent of Point Guard in basketball really, it wasn't too hard to understand the differences between the two sports." I answer.

"Why did you stop?" He asks, and I have to look away from his bright, unblinking eyes.

"Um, why? I guess… it was convenient at the time. I enjoyed Volleyball, a lot, it's just my school had a very strong girl's basketball team. The volleyball team wasn't very good." I say, and though he nods I see his brows knitting together, so I laugh.  
/"It's good to see my brother's first years are so dedicated to their sport. I will say I would still play volleyball, if I had time to. But basketball takes up my sporting activity now."

"But Volleyball's…." Kageyama trails off and I smile at his cute, puzzled expression. Cute? Excuse me.

"I know, it's just… a bit late for me to change now. And there isn't a brilliantwomen's volleyball team here either, it would be a little hard." I tell him, and he nods slowly. I can't help but smile slightly. "Did you manage to finish that history  
homework?"

"Kind of…" He mutters, starting to take his books out of his bag.

"May I see?" I ask, and he hands over his work. Ah… so I guess kind of, means he wrote just enough to pass it being done, but only tried for the first quarter, and then seemingly got confused, so filled the rest of the page with filler.

"Will I pass?" He asks bluntly, and a sympathetic smile grows on my face.

"I doubt it." I say honestly.

"Ugh, it's too short isn't it. I'll add another paragraph…"

"No, actually, mines a little shorter than this." I tell him, and he just blinks confused. It's really adorable. "I don't mind helping, in fact, you've just crammed all the information you can remember into this first paragraph, but rushed it a little,  
/and then you ran out of stuff to say, right?"

"Yep."

"If you just structure what you put in this first paragraph into a full essay, you'd definitely pass, if not get higher." I tell him. "I can help you if you want… if you do something for me in return."

He looks at me dubiously, as if to say he doesn't care that much about passing.

"Not that I'll say yes, but what would you want?" He asks carefully.

"Could you invite me to watch your lunchtime practice? Basketball is cancelled, and I'm curious to see yourprodigious skills." I present the idea to him, and he just blinks, pauses, then looks at me blankly.

"It's an open practice, you don't need an invite." He points out and I roll my eyes.

"I know that, but it's polite to ask, and I think if I did just turn up Koshi would throw me out if I didn't have a proper invitation. Besides, I'm coming along to the practice match, why don't we say it's part of your apology for taking my brother's  
/place." I remember how this conversation started and manage to use it as a device to get him to accept.

He shrugs, then nods. "I was thinking of asking you to come anyway actually. Now it just means Yoshida-sensei won't get even more pissed at me." He says carelessly, and I pout slightly before smiling.

"Thanks, Kageyama-kun!"

Our class tutor enters the room then asking for silence, but I take a quick glance back at Kageyama-kun who's still looking my way.

12321

"Do you want to eat lunch then?" Kageyama asks simply as our last lesson before lunch finishes, not meeting my eyes whilst scratching the back of his neck.

"Sure, I know somewhere we can sit without the busy's of the cafeteria." I tell him as I follow him to buy his lunch. I have my usual bento, with Chicken naban I made yesterday, and I lead him, though he was hesitant, to the girl's club room building,  
/where I motion for him to start climbing the tallest Oaktree that has a thick branch higher up that leads onto the roof.

"Have you done this before?" He asks as he steps up to the first branch, before I start following him.

"Yeah, I found it on the second day of school. I'm not really one for the social aspects of eating in the cafeteria, it just prolongs me eating my food which is the only important thing really." I tell him. "Plus it means we're outside, which is always  
/better."

We perch ourselves on the ledge created by the air con fans, and as the club room building is a few storeys high, there's a nice view of the greenery further on.

"So I've gathered you're not much for acedemics, are you?" I ask him, and he shakes his head, a mouthful full of food. "Any subjects you vaguely like, or are you never going to stop playing volleyball?"

"Volleyball." He says simply and a chuckle. "You're clever, but you could be a professional basketball player as well." He says it completely seriously, but with a kind of cute blank look on his face.

"I'm a bit of a wimp. I enjoy basketball, but I can't see myself having it as an occupation. I like sports because of the competition, but… I've never really lost. And I don't want to know what that feels like." I admit to him.

"So you're afraid of losing a game, and losing your whole career as a result." He concludes.

"Basically. And winning doesn't always mean successful in terms of a job. I guess I'm too careful to take risks like that in real life." I say. "But I think everyone's afraid of losing. You said you ended on bad terms with your middle school teammates,  
/surely you'd never want that to happen again."

His usually straight face twists into a scowl and he pointedly looks away.

"No."

Yet he still answers.

"Besides, I'm really interested in mechanics, engines and such. Especially aeroplanes. Piloting never really stood out to me, since nowadays it's the technology that ensures a safe, fast flight. I've always thought it would be a fun job. Always something  
/new, never the best."

"You don't want to be the best?" He asks, and I think it over.

"Being the best is nice, but in sport… for me it's always made me lose insight. When you're the best, who can you challenge? With science, there's always a challenge." I say.

"Though if you start offnot the best, it would be nice to keep on working, till you come the best. That's the fun part. That's why Volleyball is so fun." Kageyama says, and I nod with him.

"Volleyball's different from basketball. In Volleyball, you can't do everything yourself, you can't touch the ball twice in a row. It's a true team sport. Basketball's a bit of a fake team sport. I've gone whole games where my teammates have barely touched  
/the ball, because my dribbling skills are the best way to go about it." I explain to him.

"Then play volleyball." I can't help it, I laugh at his straight-forwardness, and smile brightly.

"Yeah, maybe I will, now I've got a chance to make up with Koshi. We should go." I finish, putting my bento box away in my bag and start climbing down first as Kageyama follows me.

"Rui-chan-"Kageyama pauses as I turn back. "Eto… Daichi-san called you it, so I assumed…"

"Call me Rui-chan, everyone calls me Rui anyway." I say with a smile.

"Right… Rui-chan, let's go this way."

 **That marks the end of my first chapter! What do we think, is it alright? I always find starting novels the hardest, once I get into it it's much easier. Anyway, I started the involvement in the middle of episode 5, as I thought it wouldn't be right if another character was involved in th madness, so I hope it worked out, please read and review as always, and I hope this fic is enjoyable in the future!**


	2. Chapter 2

It turns out we took a different route to the gym, in order to pass by a vending machine, where he picks out a milk carton.

"Do you like milk?" He asks.

"I have a glass every morning and hot milk at night, though sometimes if my mum lets me she'll buy me chocolate milk." I reply, though I'm slightly confused as he nods, before turning back and handing me a carton of chocolate milk.

"Thank you Kageyama-kun, but you really didn't have to." I thank him as a light flush catches my cheeks.

"It's fine, Rui-chan." He mutters before shaking his head and looking away. "It's this way."

The sound of volleyballs bouncing on the squeaky floor reaches my ears, and when we enter, there's the small boy with ginger hair spiking against the wall. I think his name was Hinata…?

"Hinata boke! You should be practising your half-assed receives not your spikes!" Kageyama-kun yells from beside me, and I jump slightly at his loudness.

"Sorry, just watch this idiot for a bit." Kageyama tells me, before rushing off somewhere.

"But I want to spikeeeeee!" Hinata wails as I walk further in. "Huh? Sugawara-senpai's sister!"

"Yes, that's me, you are Hinata-kun." I reply with a smile. This boy's so full of energy!

"Daichi-san said you used to play volleyball! Could you toss for me?" Hinata runs up to me and his eyes open wide pleadingly.

It's been a while… and I wouldn't mind, but Kageyama said something about his receives…

"How about I serve to you, and you try and receive. If you receive it properly, I'll set it back to you!" I suggest, and even though Hinata has a blank look on his face for a few seconds, he suddenly grins.

"Great! Let's start!" He yells, jumping high in the air. That was high… really high… he couldn't be a spiker, could he? He's smaller than me, since he must be around 5'4, whilst I'm 5'7.

"Okay then… now?" I ask, taking a volleyball from the huge basket. "I'm very out of practice, I haven't played for over two years, so sorry for any mistakes!"

"That's okay, let's go!" He yells from across the net. I take a deep breath and toss the ball up lightly before hitting it across, neatly to the side of Hinata so he has to move a bit. He reaches for it, and manages to get his hands to it, but it bounces  
off side.

"Again!" He yells and I nod, this time hitting it to the other side of him, with similar results. I don't have an incredibly strong serve, but I like to think it's reasonably accurate, which seems to be hard enough as it is on its own. Feeling sympathetic,  
after at least 10 failed attempts, I aim it straight in front of him, so he still has to move forward for it. He just manages to get his hands under, and it swings in an overly high arc. Well, it wasn't perfect, but why don't I give him a reward toss?

I let my feet move quickly to the spot directly under the ball, before rocking back slightly on one leg, then as the ball touches my fingers, I do a simple front toss over the net to Hinata, managing to time it so Hinata leaps up and spikes it down.

"Wow… sorry Hinata-kun, I underestimated your jumping height-"

"That was amazing! Tanaka-senpai will be so happy when he gets here, he's been going on and on about how pretty you are since we met-" Hinata rambles on and a light blush scatters my cheeks.

"Hinata!" I hear Kageyama's voice and turn around to see him marching back in in sportswear, a white t-shirt and some outrageously high volleyball shorts. Honestly though, he's showing more skin than me since I have my long socks on!

"It's alright Kageyama-kun, Sugawara-chan has been serving to me- I've been receiving I promise!" Hinata whines, and I smile sympathetically.

"Well then get going before Daichi-san arrives!" Kageyama orders.

"Do you want some practice as well?" I ask Kageyama, and he blinks, before thinking about it, glaring at Hinata, then thinking better of it and nodding.

"Alright then, let's go!" I say, taking another ball and serving it to Hinata first.

"Move your feet before your arms! Remember what Daichi-san said!" Kageyama yells as Hinata misses the ball completely.

I take it in turns serving to Hinata and Kageyama, before tossing back if they receive well enough. I feel slightly pressured as Kageyama makes every one of his receives, but I have to toss to this prodigious setter! He spikes them back with equal accomplishment,  
a smug smirk making it's way onto his face as Hinata continues to struggle.

"Don't go easy on him Rui-chan, he doesn't deserve it!" He tells me as Hinata receives a short serve and I move to toss back.

"Surely he has to start with easier serves and then move onto harder ones when he's ready? He's obviously less experienced than yourself." I question after Hinata spikes back an accurate toss.

"We tried that it didn't work." Kageyama replies blankly, and I giggle slightly before hearing footsteps enter the gym.

"Hello little first years- Sugawara-chan!" Tanaka-san steps into the hall.

"Don't call me that Tanaka!" I hear a familiar voice from the outside, and my eyes widen slightly as Koshi steps in behind. His unassuming face changes as he sees me, his brows furrowing. "What are you doing here?"

It takes me a few seconds to gather myself as I blink at his tone. I knew he wouldn't want me here.

"I wanted her to come and watch before the practice match, Sugawara-senpai." I'm surprised slightly as Kageyama comes up next to me and bows. "In compensation for not seeing you play."

Koshi takes a few seconds to process, before his sheepish smile is plastered on his face and he's scratching the back of his neck.

"Eto, I guess that's fine." He says, as Daichi and the second years follow them in.

"Rui, what a lovely surprise. Do you want to join in?" Daichi asks indicating the volleyball I'm holding.

"No that's alright, I promised Kageyama-kun I'd help him with his Japanese history since he invited me to watch." I reply with a smile. "Thank you for having me!"

"Come any time Rui, you're welcome here." Daichi says to me, though out of Koshi's earshot.

I make my way to the side where I sit cross-legged and take out Kageyama's homework. With a quick look at his handwriting, I take the good points he made in the first paragraph and plan them out in a structured plan for him to follow, only adding a few  
pieces of information.

Once I'm done, which is relatively quickly since I had already done the homework, I look up and watch the drills they're doing with wide eyes. I may remember my short year of volleyball, but most of these guys are so much better than what I had been doing,  
though that's to be expected. I can't help the smile spreading across my face as I watch Koshi set from Daichi, and the smile on his face as it's spiked.

Isn't one of his friends missing? I remember quite clearly an older friend, Asahi-san who came to our house a few times… maybe he graduated last year?

I'm happy Koshi's having fun though, I barely see him smiling and laughing, because he only ever says a quick word before leaving. It was so unlike him when it all started.

My eyes keep on being drawn to Kageyama though. I mean I knew he was good from our short practice at the beginning, but… his setting's an entire new level. It's so precise, he controls the timing of the spikers rather than matching to theirs, something  
I always found hard.

"All right everyone! We need to stop and clear up to get to class on time! Make sure everyone is here on time for the practice match!" Daichi-san closes the practice, and I gather the papers and put most of them away in my bag.

"Was it fun to watch?" Kageyama-kun asks as he jogs up to me, an excited smile on his face.

"Mmhmm, definitely! It's so much more advanced than I remember, but I guess it's been years since I last saw Koshi play." I tell him. "You were amazing as well, I'd heard you were really good… but it was all so seamless!"

"Your sets were pretty accurate for someone who hasn't played for a long time too, you should be proud." I beam up at him, and he looks away slightly sheepish.

"I wrote you an essay plan, here." I tell him, handing him my structured notes. "See, you had most of the information, you just need to present it differently. Try and tell me what you should write." I urge him on as we start walking back to the classrooms.

"Eto… well… One reason for the…" He joins up his points that I wrote down with linking words, and I smile as he finds the rhythm. "This is great. Maybe I'll actually pass next time."

"Not only next time silly, this time as well. Japanese history is next." I say, handing him another sheet of paper. His eyes widen.

"You wrote me an essay?" He says incredulously.

"It's pretty much what you just told me, I had to make sure you understood it before giving it to you, otherwise you just wouldn't learn. Besides, I know you wouldn't have time to rewrite it if you handed in your failing essay." I tell him honestly.

"You even… this looks like my handwriting." He mumbles.

"Yeah, I'm quite good at replicating handwriting. I wouldn't have given it to you if you hadn't understood the structure I wrote for you." I say as we reach the classroom. "Thanks for a great lunchtime Kageyama-kun."

He blinks at me as I turn and go to take my place in the classroom, before he eventually follows.

12321

Japanese History passes quickly, and I give Kageyama a reassuring smile as he hands in 'his' homework. I won't lie, I feel like I'm betraying myself a bit, writing his homework for him, but as long as he learns from it I'm fine with it, and I'll make  
sure he knows it was a onetime thing.

What's on my mind now, is the practice match.

As Kageyama walks me to the minibus with some light chatter about our lesson, I catch sight of Koshi… who blatantly avoids me. I can't hope for him to just come and talk to me, maybe I'll give him time.

"Line up!" Daichi-san yells, and I follow suit slightly confused, taking a place next to Kageyama.

"If you could, please!" The rest of the volleyball team yells, and I scramble slightly to follow their deep bow.

"Sure, everyone in!" Takeda-sensei says, and I follow Kageyama into the bus. I take a seat next to him, and offer a light smile before putting my headphones in.

Halfway through the journey, there's a commotion at the back.

"Stoppppp!" There are loud shouts and I quickly turn back to see Hinata vomiting over the floor.

"Don't get the bus dirty I'll be killed!" I yell, pulling out my headphones, but as I take a step forward (as if I could do anything), Kageyama grabs my arm and holds me back.

"You don't want to go back there." He says monotonously, and I give him a wry smile.

We finally finish the journey, and somehow things get cleaned up.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry Tanaka-san!" Hinata bows deeply, and I pat him on the back. Kageyama told me he'd been nervous about his first ever practice match… and now I think about it that seems about right for Hinata's character.

"It's alright Hinata, everyone gets nervous." I say sympathetically.

"Yeah I told you not to worry about it." Tanaka adds. "Forget me, are you alright?"

"Yeah, lying down helped. I feel fine now I'm off the bus." Hinata replies, but I still look at him doubtful.

"That so? Good! Our match today rests on your shoulders, after all." Tanaka-san says and my eyes widen before I hit him on the shoulder.

"No it doesn't, the only important thing is that you try your best!" I attempt to cover Tanaka's mistake, but the damage is done.

"Hey, Tanaka!" I turn around and Koshi is also looking at Tanaka like he's crazy. "No pressure!"

"Huh, what?" Tanaka repeats confused.

"I'll… I'll do my best…" Hinata manages. "I need to use the bathroom!" He suddenly sprints off, and there's a frown on my face.

"How long has he been playing?" I ask Koshi politely. He'll answer me this, won't he.

"There wasn't a volleyball team at his last school, but he practiced every day." Koshi answers, before looking away.

"First the top, now the bottom? Never a moments rest for you, huh?" Tanaka says, and I roll my eyes.

"Not again! Pathetic! Time to beat him into shape!" Kageyama yells angrily, but I catch hold of the arm he'd just rolled his sleeve up.

"What are you thinking?!" Koshi says, pushing Kageyama's shoulder back. "You know that won't work on Hinata!"

"We won't know until we try!" Kageyama continues, but I force him to look at me.

"That kind of thing won't work on anyone, if anything he'll just get more depressed!" I reprimand, and though Kageyama doesn't rebut, he scowls slightly.

"You can tell him off in the match if he makes mistakes." I tell him to compensate, and he straightens up a little.

"Let's go." Tanaka says, and I follow him and Kageyama, with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, into Aoba Johsai territory. It's really large, so it takes a while but we run into a couple of Aoba Johsai Volleyball players, and of course Tanaka starts back the  
trash talk.

"Keep looking down on us…" Tanaka san drawls, "… and we'll eat you alive." I get this overwhelming sense of dejavu, of a crow cawing in the background, and it chills me to the bones as I take hold of Kageyama's arm, hiding slightly from the tall Aoba  
Johsai players.

"You shouldn't threaten them like that, Tanaka-san." Tsukishima joins in, the natural mocking tone of his voice making me smile. "Look, now these poor elites are shaking in their boots. Don't you feel sorry for them?"

"Like hell we are!" The dark-haired Aoba Johsai player retorts.

"I guess. Gotta limit the bullying to the proper match, right?" Tanaka adds.

"You guys!" All of a sudden Daichi comes around the corner, and my eyes widen as I bite my lip. He's angry."Can't take my eyes of you for a second!"

Daichi-san grabs Tanaka by the head, forcing him down into a 90-degree bow.

"We're sorry!"

"Ah- don't be." One of the Aoba Johsai replies.

"Stop it Tanaka!" Daichi yells as Tanaka starts to glare back menacingly. He starts to drag Tanaka off with him, and Kageyama pulls me withhis arm slightly as we move to follow.

"Long time no see, King." The dark-haired boy says, and I feel Kageyama tense up throughout his whole body. "Show me what kind of dictatorship you've put in place this time, I can hardly wait."

I see Tanaka make a move to pounce back, but Kageyama slowly lifts his head.

"Sure." He answers shortly, before glancing at me as I start walking forward with him. And then Tanaka whacks him on the shoulder.

"What was that for?!" Kageyama yells, and I giggle slightly.

"You've grown up, eh?" Tanaka laughs. "You've even caught the girl!"

I blush suddenly, realising I'm still holding Kageyama's arm.

"Girl's aren't caught, Tanaka, we're our own person!" I snap back hauntedly, with a fierce gaze and Tanaka jumps back.

"Right, right I'm sorry!" He says, and I walk on past them shaking my head slightly. Honestly, I'd only known Kageyama a few days…

We reach a massive gym, where there could be a hundred volleyball players running round the edge or running drills, multicoloured balls everywhere.

"Greet them!" Daichi yells.

"Let's have a good match!" I join in with the volleyball team, before moving to Shimizu their manager.

"Plus they're famous for being good blockers." I catch Koshi saying.

"What's gotten into you two!" Tanaka says, referring to Daichi and Koshi. "We've got Hinata here to throw a spanner in their works!"

I almost facepalm. Almost. I settle for firmly yanking Tanaka's sleeve with a helpless look on my face.

"But we know you suck, so we've got your back!" Tanaka still continues, and I feel like my eyes are bulging out of my head. How could he be so oblivious! For a moment, Hinata almost lightens up, but Tanaka wasn't done yet.

"But you're on your own when your serving. Don't you dare screw up!" Tanaka jokes, and all of a sudden Hinata jolts off, as Tanaka continues to talk to himself.

"Hey, could you say something to cheer that first year up?" Daichi comes to talk to Shimizu and I, and I realise Hinata has come back in. Shimizu is beautiful, classically so, as she leans over.

"Hey, could I talk to you for a sec?" She questions, before walking over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I have high hopes for you."

Hinata explodes.

"That was a terrible idea." I say to Daichi, and he just gives me a crazed look.

And then the players line up.

"Have the seniors ever played Aoba Johsai before?" I ask Shimizu, who's sitting next to me.

"Not that I remember. They were amazing at a point, but have been having a tough time lately. Last season was particularly hard." Shimizu tells me. I wrack my brain, and remember Koshi coming home from a match extremely beaten up… could that be what she's  
talking about?

"Can I ask you something?" I say politely, lowering my voice. She nods. "Koshi enjoys himself here, right? He enjoys playing volleyball."

She nods again slowly, but purses her lips. "He's central to the team, as the setter always is. Everyone trusts him, he's like that. I don't understand why he's not like that with you, you seem like you'd be close."

"I think that too… I'm trying to figure out what I've done wrong." Shimizu's eyes widen slightly, before shaking her head and turning back to the game.

"It's starting."

And my god, it's a mess. Hinata isn't only bad, he's catastrophic. He continually bumps into other members, taking receives he shouldn't, AND messing them up. I'm surprised we were into double digits by the time it got to match point. All I can see is  
Hinata worrying, worrying, and worrying some more.

And then he has to serve.

"You can do it Hinata!" I yell but his knees keep on shaking. All of a sudden the whistle blows, and my breath catches as Hinata stumbles and slips with the ball, before it hurls forward- right into Kageyama's head.

With that the set ends, and I watch frightfully as Kageyama backs Hinata up, a delirious look in his eyes, and I realise by now it's best not to get involved. Only when he starts walking over to the side, he looks over and I give him a reassuring smile.

"Here." I say, handing him a water bottle.

"Thanks." He says, eyes still thunderous as I move closer to press a towel to his face.

"Is your head okay?" I ask gently and he blinks out of his rage to look at me as I move up on my tiptoes to look at the back of his head.

"…It's fine, the dumbass can't even hit hard." He reassures me as I bite my lip slightly.

"You're doing great, Hinata looks better now, good luck." I tell him as he nods before running back onto the court.

After that, surprisingly, it gets better. Most notably, in under a second, Kageyama sets up a quick, that goes up like nothing I've seen before and Hinata's so high up as the ball slams down.

I'm glad I'm not the only one surprised by it, as the opposition seems equally surprised, as Kageyama starts pulling together more and more solid attacks. At one point, Kageyama and Tsukishima seemed to have a serious spat, as they started arguing and  
pushing each other from the sides, though I guess you can't help that with boys. It didn't take too long though, with Kageyama and Hinata's new quick attack, to win the second set. As the boys come to the side, I give Kageyama a water bottle, and  
he even gives me a small smile, before there's sudden screaming from the onlookers. I turn my head, and a tall boy, he must be in the upper-years, is walking in, perfectly styled hair waving in his wake as he grins and waves to his supporters.

"Oh, you're back Oikawa. How's your leg?"

"A-okay!" Oikawa replies. "I can get back to regular practice, it was just a light sprain."

"Sheesh, you should be more careful. We demanded that they play Kageyama, you know." The Aoba Johsai coach reprimands. "It'd be really cheap of us if we didn't play our own starting setter."

"My apologies." Oikawa replies, before turning to wave at some of the female onlookers.

"Say Kageyama, who's the pretty boy? He's really getting on my nerves." Tanaka-san has his creeping face back on, as he points menacingly at Oikawa.

"That's Seijoh's captain." Daichi says.

"Oikawa."

"He's a really aggressive setter, and one of the best attackers on the team on top of that." Kageyama says, and I'm surprised at his admittance, it doesn't seem usual for him. "Also, he's a total jerk." That's more like it.

"That's scary, coming from you!" Hinata jumps up.

"Might even be worse that Tsukishima." Kageayama adds, and though I haven't known them long, their quarrel as the blockers in this match has demonstrated there animosity enough.

"Sounds horrible!" Hinata exclaims.

"You know the guy? Does that mean he's from Kitagawa Daiichi?" Tanaka asks, and my ears perk up. Kitagawa Daiichi was one of my middle school's main volleyball competitors, but from what I remember they always won, and were extremely strong, national  
champions. I guess it would make sense Kageyama going there.

"Hai, he was my upperclassman in junior high." Kageyama admits.

"Hey there. Long time no see Tobio-chan." Oikawa comes over with a sickly sweet smile and a wave. Tobio-chan? That doesn't seem like the best idea of a nickname with Kageyama…

"It's been forever. How's your ruling kingdom coming along?" Another jab at Kageyama. How is he not strangling him yet, my eyebrows are creased with worry, but Kageyama seems to hold it back rather well.

"I learned how to serve and block watching him play. He's seriously good." Kageyama admits once more. Maybe that's what's preventing him going after his throat, the respect of his skill. "But stay focussed on the match. We've got to win this last set!"

"Got it!" Hinata exclaims.

"Stop trying to scare him, Tanaka-san!" Kageyama adds, which is what really ties it in place. This guy must be _really good._

Luckily, Oikawa takes a thorough stretch, which to be fair just backs up the question of him being a good athlete, but is fortunate for us since Karasuno can play without the burden of a new player. But of course, just as they get to match point…

"My oh my, looks like we're down to the wire." I hear the kind of floaty voice from the side, and sure enough, this Oikawa looks ready to play.

"How'd your warm up go?"

"A-okay!"

And with that, he goes in to pinch serve.

 **Next chapter!" Haha, I know I said something about not being able to update too often… but I may have binge watched Haikyuu all over again and have found new motivation to stay up into the early hours and write fanfiction! I personally think Kageyama and Rui's friendship is going at a steady pace as in animes, I always find time flies at an unusual pace. Anyway, I hope this chapter is enjoyable like the last, review as always!**


	3. Chapter 3

Oikawa holds up the ball with one hand, pointing straight at Tsukishima, and though I can barely hear him over the cheering of the crowd, my instincts tell me this isn't good.

Oikawa tosses the ball high, and runs from a good distance to jump at height, to send the ball pummelling towards Tsukishima. He had no chance, as the ball hits his waiting arms but ricochets and hits the railing of the balcony. The irritation is clear  
on Tsukishima's face, and I can't help but feel bad. It feels terrible to be targeted.

"Yeah, I knew it. I watch some of the match, you, number six, and you, number five, you suck at receiving don't you? First years I take it." He's godamned right, and those kinds of people are really annoying. I can already see why even Kageyama called  
him a jerk.

That serve was incredibly powerful, yet he still managed to direct it so easily towards Tsukishima. This can't be good. He could win this set and another all on his own unless we get a receive. He serves again, and Tsukishima fails to receive once again,  
as the other first year Yamaguchi seems to have a heart attack.

"Don't worry about it, Tsukishima!" Daichi yells, and I truly hope Daichi-san has a way around this. He can receive it, surely.

"Hey! Great King! Over here, bring it on! Don't you look down on us!" I hear Hinata start to shout, and sigh. I doubt that will help.

"Quit whining, it's pathetic!" Tsukishima seems to have a similar attitude to me, as Hinata fires back.

But I watch, intrigued, as the rest of them all move closer to the edges and Daichi takes on more area. He's shouldering the receive, I always thought he was good for captain.

But as Oikawa aims for another serve, it goes straight to Tsukishima, and with baited breath he manages to receive it. It goes straight back over the net though, and Seijoh don't hesitate to receive, set and spike, and I cheer mentally with a grin as  
Hinata touches the spike. And that's all it takes

Because once again, the ball flies faster than I can see, and hits the floor on Seijoh's side.

There's a pause of silence, before cheers and I stand and clap happily with a grin on my face. They won! Against a powerhouse school that's amazing so early on with so many first-years!

Beside me, Takeda-sensei sighs in amazement.

"What's wrong?" I look up to Koshi's smiling face, and for a moment I imagine it directed at me. If only.

"Amazing…" Sensei pronounces, and Koshi chuckles lightly.

"Oh right! Today was your first time seeing Hinata and Kageyama's quick attacks in action. Amazing right! Actually I don't know whether I should call it amazing or scary!" Koshi gushes, and I can't help but wonder… with such an amazing skill under his  
belt… the chance of Koshi being on the starting lineup… is quite slim.

"Please give us your thoughts!" The volleyball team have come up, and bowed to sensei.

"Something like a critique, sensei." Koshi whispers.

"Oh, right." Sensei stutters, and I smile lightly. "I still don't know much about volleyball, but even I could tell something incredible was going on here! A new year began, some great first years joined us, and although things didn't go too well at first,  
I think I realised something today! Alone, they might not be anything special, but when certain people come together, they form something far greater than the sum of their parts! Even as we speak, there may be encounters taking place that could change  
the world. It could be anywhere, like in a far away country, or maybe on the other side of the earth! Or they could be taking place in the remote countryside of a tiny island in the far east, in the perfectly average volleyball team of a perfectly  
normal high school. Watching the match, I felt like something like that happened at Karasuno! I have nothing to back this belief up, but it's better than not believing! I'm sure you guys will grow much, much stronger."

I smile brightly at the literature teacher's elaborate speech, and even giggle a little. I can't help but agree though, it feels like an out of body experience.

"Sorry! Was that too flowery?! Did you get wierded out?" Sensei worries, a bright blush on his cheeks and I shake my head.

"No-no! Of course not!" Daichi-san assures.

"Thank you!" The volleyball team bow, and I join in. Then we start packing up. I help Shimizu with the equipment we brought and the water bottles, carrying them dutifully to the minibus.

"Could you round up the players? Who knows what they're playing around with." Shimizu asks, and I nod.

"Of course!" I manage to find most of them, sending them back to the minibus, but am yet to find Kageyama and Hinata.

"Screw you Hinata!" There we are.

"Come on you two, we need to get back to school!" I tell them, and they both turn to me, caught in between an argument. This seems to be a common scene.

"Of course. Hinata can make his way back on his own." Kageyama says haughtily, before grabbing me wrist and walking briskly towards the exit.

"Is something the matter?" I ask as I manage to match his pace despite his longer legs, and hold onto his arm with both hands.

"Of course not!"

"Did you meet with your past teammates?"

"…"

"It turned out alright then, that's good."I conclude with a smile, and he turns to me surprised. "It was a brilliant match, that quick… as much as I hate to admit it though, everyone's receiving needs work. There were a lot of mistakes."

"That dumbass Oikawa was right, irritatingly. Doesn't stop him from being a jerk." Kageyama agrees. "So you seem interested… are you going to take up volleyball?"

I laugh at his straight-forwardness, and shake my head lightly. "I've told you I can't do that… but I'll come by and watch matches for sure! Maybe I'll even come to practice if I have a spare moment."

"Ow." Kageyama groans. "It was much better with you there today."

I blush at the sudden praise, and Kageyama seems to realise it too, blushing as we both pull our arms away before we reach the group.

"Takeda-sensei sung our praises, but honestly speaking, we still desperately lack something required to take Seijoh on, and beat them with Oikawa playing a whole match." Daichi tells the team as we walk out of the Seijoh gates.

"Oh? Now that's a captain for you." I hear the teasing tone and look up surprised at Oikawa, lounging against the school gates. "He knows what he's talking about."

"The Great King showed up!" Hinata yells, and Tanaka starts his intimidation tactics.

"Go a problem?"

"What do you want?" Hinata echoes.

"You wanna go?"

"You wanna go?"

"No need to be so hostile." Oikawa brushes it off. "You, the little one. That play you pulled of with the block and the broad jump was incredible. Next time, lets go all out from the start."

That's what I call intimidation.

"I didn't get to show you how I set, after all. Oh right, I'll make sure to improve my serves, too." Now he's just laying it on. "Your offense is certainly great, but if you guys don't get better at receiving, you'll hit the glass ceiling. I'm not the  
only one with a powerful serve, you know. The interhigh prelims are coming up soon. Don't get knocked out. Because I want to take this oh-so-precious junior of mine on, setter-on-setter, in an official match and destroy him!"

I look to Kageyama, who has a finger pointed straight at him, surprised by the direct nature of Oikawa's challenge. _Setter-on-setter… means Koshi won't be playing._

"We'll train extra hard on receiving!" Hinata declares, but even I know that won't work.

"You don't get better at receiving overnight." Oikawa drawls, and the frown on my face deepens. This guy's a total jerk. "Though I suppose your captain knows this already. You don't have much time left; I look forward to seeing what you come up with."  
Oikawa walks off, and Kageyama turns to Daichi, obviously slightly affected.

"Don't let him get to you, he just likes to mess with people, that's all." Kageyama explains, but all I hear is Daichi's evil laugh.

"True, there's not much time lift till the interhigh prelims, but he'll be back soon." Daichi says.

"Who?" Hinata asks.

"Karasuno's guardian angel!"

12321

"Let's clean up the place a little, and that'll be that! Well done boys!" Daichi says. "Thanks for today sir, and yout too Rui-chan, for convincing Coach to lend us the minibus."

"Don't mention it, you all did great today." Sensei says, and I shake my head.

"Don't worry, it was my pleasure!" I add, before moving to help fold the net away.

"Dismissed!" Daichi-san says, and I move to his side knowing he walks in the same direction as me and Koshi.

"It was an amazing match Daichi-san, widening your area was a brilliant idea, it was probably what lessend the power and allowed Tsukishima-san to receive." I tell him, and he smiles affectionately as Koshi, Tanaka, Hinata and Kageyama joins us and we  
start to walk.

"Thank you, I never said but you were pretty amazing in the match with the third-years as well. They must be happy to have you." Daichi-san replies.

"Well, I hope so. You know how far resentment for age can go, some of the second-stringers aren't so happy, but that'll just make them work harder!"

"Of course." I hear Koshi mutter, but the conversation moves away, until Daichi-san has left us, and there's only a few minutes till we get home.

"The volleyball team is great, I can see why you have so much fun!" I say in attempt to make conversation.

"Yeah, they've been my home in high school really, Daichi-san's still my closest friend despite not being in my class." Koshi answers fairly neutrally, and I can't stop a small smile forming.

"You joined straight away in first-year right? Did you have good upperclassmen too?" I continue the topic, hoping it will get me somewhere.

"Yeah, good, but strict of course. I still remember the rounds of diving digs they made us do, I'm still not very good at them though." Koshi answers, and our house comes into view. Damn it, I'm running out of time.

"Wasn't there that other guy in your year, the one who looked really old?" I ask without thinking, and immediately the relaxed look on Koshi's face becomes hard.

"Mind your own business, Rui. Such trivial things aren't important to you." Koshi snaps, before walking into our home with a bright smile for mum.

"We won! It was great, but really tiring, I think I'm going to go straight to bed…"

I stand outside for a few seconds, the momentary happiness on my face gone, as I wonder how I keep on messing up. I should have handled that with more dexterity. I'll have to find another opportunity.

12321

The next days pass, and other than the light talk with Kageyama in class, I don't hear from the volleyball team as Basketball takes up my time. Unlike the volleyball team, we have a tournament this week, as there are three national tournaments per year,  
though this one is usually only for the new third-years.

Too late do I realise asking Kageyama of all people to collect notes for me from the lessons I miss was the wrong choice, as when I get back from prelims, top in Miyagi prefecture, the notes are surprisingly concise, but have drawings of multiple confusing  
volleyball tactics left right and centre. At least they have all the relevant information too.

"So it went well?" Kageyama asks me as we eat lunch of the club room roof.

"Yeah, though I haven't managed to merge 100% with my seniors yet. They still don't fully understand my tactics as Point Guard yet, since it's only been a few weeks. In truth, it's extremely unusual to have any first years in this tournament, as it's  
so close after the new school year that no one's had enough practice. We managed well though." I explain to him, and he nods. "And volleyball? Did the so-called guardian angel show up?"

Kageyama nods, but has a scowl on his face. "Yeah, and the ace as well. But they have something going on, it's blinding them from the greatness of volleyball! Honestly, who could think of a thing!" He snaps slightly, and I chuckle lightly. When I'm not  
eating lunch with Chou-chan, I'm here with Kageyama, enjoying his relaxed company. Not to mention he always buys me chocolate milk on the way back to class, after I help him with some new homework assignment.

"I'm confused, what's wrong?"

"Neither of them are re-joining the club. The libero, Nishinoya-senpai is absolutely amazing, his receives are perfect, but he won't join because of some arguments he and the ace, Asahi-san had at the end of last season." Kageyama says.

"Asahi-san! That's what his name was." That must be why Koshi was so standoffish after I asked him. If players are refusing to rejoin, it must have been a huge spectacle.

"At least Nishinoya-san is still practicing with us, he just refuses to play games. There's a training week coming up with a practice match, but he's refusing to play without Asahi-san." Kageyama groans. "Can you come to practice today? Nishinoya-san's  
receives are so good you have to see!"

I smile and nod. "I can actually, after-school practice is cancelled because of the tournament."

"Good, you can drill with me instead of that dumbass Hinata." Kageyama grumbles and I chuckle.

"Come on, we need to go or we'll be late to class." I say and we make our way back.

12321

Sure enough, after class Kageyama walks me to the volleyball gym, where I greet the others and try to ignore Koshi's avoidance of me.

"Noya-san, this is Suga-san's little sister, Sugawara-chan!" Tanaka introduces me enthusiastically to Nishinoya-san, who's eyes light up.

"Waaa another pretty girl! We're so blessed Ryuu, she's so adorable!" The short boy stands and gushes while I try not to blush at his compliments, and take note of his small stature. He's much shorter than me, he could even be less than 5'3!

"She's so tall as well!" Nishinoya-san adds, looking up to me as I grab onto Kageyama's arm, slightly overwhelmed by the energetic duo.

"She's a basketball player, a national champion!" Tanaka boasts for me.

"Don't say such things Tanaka, that was in middle school." I say, but it doesn't stop them.

"Gather round!" Daichi-san yells, and I'm surprised to see a long, blond haired man step into the threshold with Takeda sensei.

"Allow me to introduce you to Ukai, your coach as of today!" Takeda announces, and the rest of the players are shocked. Wasn't Ukai the name of their previous coach?

"Coach? Do you mean it?" Daichi-san questions.

"Only for the duration of your match with Nekoma." Ukai-san says, and I surmise Nekoma is the school with which their next practice match is with.

"He's the guy who runs the Foothill store! Is he really our coach?" Tanaka notices, and I can't believe I didn't realise it was the man I'd bought pork buns from so often.

"He graduated from Karasuno, and he's the grandson of the famous coach Ukai." Takeda sensei explains, and most of the team seem to recoil.

"But your store isn't name after you, right?" Hinata questions.

"The store comes from my mother's side. Anyway, there's no time, lets get started!"

This seems to be an interesting practice for me to drop into.

"I want to see how you guys play, so we have a match at 6:30. I called in your opponents." Coach Ukai says.

"Opponents?" Kageyama questions, curious.

"The Karasuno neighbourhood association."

I help the boys run drills, feeding them balls and serves until six thirty comes around. And then, three men in their twenties walk in in tracksuits.

"Hello!"

"Yo!"

"Damn, this takes me back!"

"Team Neighbourhood association, is on the scene!" They announce together, and I can't help but smile at the comradeship.

"They look kind of… ordinary." Kageyama says, and I turn to him.

"That doesn't mean anything about their skills. You look pretty ordinary too… apart from your eyes I guess. But Daichi definitely looks ordinary, and he's brilliant!"

"I guess so." Kageyama concludes, as they start readying for the match.

"Okay, let's get this thing started!" Coach Ukai yells. "Hey you, what's wrong? Coach asks Nishinoya-san, and I can feel the tension in the room.

"I'm sorry, he's not ready." Daichi tries to explain.

"What's the matter, Issues? Injury?"

"No, it's not that straightforward." As I really need to find out what happened with my brother.

"What, so he's not injured? I dunno what the deal is, but join the neighbourhood team, our libero is tied up at work." Coach Ukai says, and Nishinoya doesn't really have a choice.

"What'll we do about the other three? You have more players don't you?" Ukai asks Daichi.

"Hey! It's Asahi-san!" There's Hinata's screech, and w all turn to see him clinging to the bars on the window, eyes bright. Asahi-san, their ace!

"I was just-um-" The tall man tries to make excuses, and seemingly fails.

"A tardy guy! Are you jerking my chain? State your position!" Ukai-san demands. This was going to be good!

"Uh-Wing Spiker…"

"We need players, get the hell in there, get warmed up! Make it snappy!"

It seems the whole room except the neighbourhood association are holding their breath, as the tall easily noticeable guy walks in timidly.

"Now we need a one more and a setter…" Ukai-san murmurs. "Loan me one of your setters!"

Both Kageyama and Koshi seem to consider it, but it's Koshi who steps forward first.

"Sugawara-san! You're not deferring to me are you? If rising in the ranks comes at your expense, I'm out." Kageyama declares, and my heart warms at his loyalty.

"This whole time, I prepared to fight you for the starting position. But after you joined, I think I felt relieved somehow. The setter is the team's attack axis, he must be steadfast. But I was too freaked out to set properly." At Koshi's words, my lip  
starts to tremble. He wasn't alright, I knew he wasn't alright with this. "I was so afraid of submitting the spiker to repeated blocks because of my sets, that I hid in the shadow of Kageyama's overwhelming talent. It felt normal there, as it has  
been for years," My brow furrows, what does he mean for years? Kageyama's a prodigy, not a life presence.

"The very thought of a spike being blocked scares me. That said, please let me spike for you one more time, Asahi! That's why I'm going on this side." Koshi declares. "And Kageyama, I'm not going to lose."

"Me neither." Kageyama says straight faced.

"Nishinoya, give me those good receives of yours!" Koshi says, patting the second-year on the back.

"Naturally!"

"Now one more… You! Girly, are you in the women's team? You were serving really well earlier!" Ukai-san points sharply at me, and I jump slightly.

"Er-no- but I played a little in junior high." I admit, and suddenly see the opportunity. I can play with Koshi!

"Go help the neighbourhood team then!"

And then it starts, with me facing Tanaka-san.

"It's alright Sugawara-chan, I'll go easy on you." Tanaka-san assures, but I narrow my gaze.

"If you want to lose faster, then sure!" I reply easily, and Tanaka's eyes widen, before he lets out a loud laugh.

It starts right away, but Kageyama serves straight at Koshi, so he can't set. The return is gentle, and I find that on instinct my feet move swiftly directly under the ball, before I glance back to where the short-haired blond man stands.

"Center!" I say, before rocking back to let a light, high back-toss out, straight into the line of the neighbourhood association guy. The strong spike was successful against Ennoshita.

"Wow, that was pretty amazing for someone who doesn't play!" The blond haired man compliments me.

"Thank you, your spike was easy to time to as well!" I return the kind words, before moving back into position, glancing lightly at the hard gaze I find from Koshi. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

The match continues and I stay out of Koshi's way, only receiving and blocking. Koshi too manages a perfect toss to the blond haired man, and receives equal compliments.

"Nice toss, Suga-san!" Nishinoya praises with a grin, and it makes me grin too.

"Only because they'readjusting their team play for my benefit. They're real veterans- my setting still needs work." Koshi dismisses, and I take my turn to speak up.

"You're too modest, Koshi." I say it as a compliment, and am surprised when Koshi doesn't glare at me, but looks at me pensive, not conveying anything, before we reposition.

And then, of course, Hinata and Kageyama pull of their freak-quick. The neighbourhood association are shocked to the bone, and I enjoy completely the look on Coach Ukai's face along with Nishinoya's.

The ball comes flying over to the back, and I dive to dig it, just managing to get my hand underneath to hit it hard enough in the direction I hope is Koshi's.

And it is, Koshi sets it to one of the neighbourhood association, who spikes it as we win a point.

"Nice receive Noya!" Koshi says, and the breath is taken out of my lungs.

"Me? That was Sugawara-chan! But your right it was a great dive!" Nishinoya immediately rectifies, and Koshi turns to me and I can't read his face.

"Yeah, nice receive."

While a completely subdued answer next to Nishinoya, a bright smile curls onto my face. He spoke to me, straight to me, whilst looking to me. Thing's must be looking up.

 **That's another chapter! My real exams have just started this week, so I'm unsure when I will next update, but after rewatching the whole of Haikyuu the past two days (when I should've been revising) I have a new fervour for this fic, so hopefully it won't be long! I'm unsure as to whether Rui-chan will be around during Golden training week, but I think I may not, since that may be taking it too fast, because I've got lots planned for the interhigh! Anyway, read and review, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Aquafin- thank you so much for your feedback! I tried not to make Rui a mary sue, though the 'bad' part of her character hasn't come up much yet, I didn't want her to be the anxious shy generic character, so it means a lot! I hope you enjoy!**

The match with the neighbourhood association progresses, and I make sure not to push my luck and keep out of the way. It seemed right to, as Koshi, Nishinoya and Asahi-san seemed to be working out the problems the had last season.

I watch with a bright smile as Asahi-san smashes down his point-scoring spike, overjoyed with my brother's smile that came with.

As the match comes to a close in the neighbourhood association plus Koshi, Nishinoya, Asahi and I's favour, Coach Ukai approaches me.

"You! Girl! Why aren't you in the girl's volleyball team? You were really good considering you don't play!" He says it in such a casual way, that I have to return with a sheepish smile.

"Thank you coach, but unfortunately I'm in the basketball team here. I had to stop playing because the volleyball team at my middle school wasn't competitive." I tell him.

"Basketball? But the girl's volleyball team here isn't bad!" He continues. "What position did you play? It was setter wasn't it, your toss was too good at the start! All any team needs is a good setter!"

I look around nervously and notice Koshi is far away, so nod. "Thank you coach, and yes, I was setter, but basketball takes up my time." I reply politely once more, despite how much I know I love volleyball.

"Ah-coach, she's leaving out the part she's been national champion for two years." Kageyama suddenly appears next to me, and I instinctively shove his shoulder lightly, despite it not fazing him whatsoever.

"Kageyama!"

"Ah… I guess there isn't much we can do then. Feelfree to drop round to practice anyway, we could always use extra hands!" Coach tells me, and I bow.

"Thank you coach, I'll be sure to!" I say smartly, before helping to put all the balls away.

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Barely a few days after the neighbourhood match, it's training week. Not only for the volleyball team, but the basketball team. It's in between prelims and national finals for us, so it's perfect to just become more acquainted as a team so we merge together  
better.

"Right everyone- first names!" Coach yells at my four third-year teammates and myself.

"Excuse me Coach?" I can't help but question.

"You want us to call each other by our first names?" Ito-san, the shooting guard questions.

"Sugawara-chan told me she did it in her middle school, it improves team cohesion, plus with no honorific it's shorter. Not to mention the opposition are less likely to know your first names!" Coach explains what I did to her, and I raise my hand.

"But coach, we were all in our last year, there was no age gap and we'd known each other for years." I point out, very wary of calling my upperclassman by their first names. "I don't mind being called Rui because all my brother's friends do, but I think  
my senpais may feel uncomfortable me calling them their personal names."

"Well then get comfortable! You all know the Point Guard orchestrates the offense, and as our new player is the Point Guard we need to build trust. This may be a big step, but it'll will bring our team to greatness!"

"It's alright Rui-chan, call me Akane!" Ito-san tells me sweetly, placing her hand on my shoulder, and I jump slightly in the air as my brow furrows.

"Hai, Akane-senpai!" I say respectfully though frowning deeply.

"I'm Fukumi!" Centre

"Just call me Kozue!" Small forward

"Just Ichiko then." Power forward.

"Hai! Fukumi-senpai, Kozue-senpai, Ichiko-senpai!" I bow, with what I can tell is an embarrassed flush on my face as the others laugh.

"You were the one who told coach, Rui-chan! Besides, you know we'll do anything to improve and be the best!" Kozue smiles brightly at me. She's my favourite senpai, not only because she's captain and always takes care of me, but also because she's a defensive  
small forward, and is excellent at taking fouls from the other team, which is extremely reassuring for a point guard.

"Hai!"

With that, we start going through various attack tactics that we can use, and run them until each of our attacks run like a well-oiled machine. Being a Point Guard, I have to be fully aware of all their talents and possible attack sequences so I can navigate  
which are best suited to the other team's defence.

"Coach? Shouldn't we be focussing on defence? None of them are strong in defence apart from Kimura-chan(Kozue)." The girl speaking is our main reserve, Sasaki-san. She's a third year, and hasn't been quiet about being a reserve, and has shown her dislike  
of me despite the fact she can't play Point Guard, as it's the most specialized position.

"Ah, you weren't at prelims Sasaki, Rui-chan has it covered."

It was true, our team's lack of blocking defence is notable, as even though Fukumi as our centre has height standing at 6'2, Ichiko is more of a slight build than most power forwards. But if there's one thing I succeed at more than anything else, it's  
steals.

As the training week reaches it's end, we have a practice match against Karasuno's regular rivals, Kessenuma Girl's High. We didn't play them in the prelims as they were knocked out by our opponents in the final, but they're good nonetheless.

"To the left!" I shout as my hand slides under Kessenuma's Point Guard's dribble, tapping the ball lightly into my other awaiting hand.

My teammates are already moving past the halfway court, and as I see Kessenuma's last attempt at forming defence- man on man.

So far they had used box out, which just led to easy screening, alternating our scorer so they don't become accustomed to attacks.

But with man on man, it goes to who has the biggest advantage over their marker. And Kessenuma's Point Guard is their obvious weakness.

It's easy to lose the Point Guard as she runs into her own Small Forward, and even though their centre had enough sense to get right in my face, I'd already called the additional screen from Ichiko, and all it takes is a simple tip against the hoop as  
I let my fingers catch the rim as I score the last basket of the match.

"Karasuno wins, 84-45!" I smile to my teammates as we do a group high five before hugging.

"That was a good smooth game guys! I think we ran all of our attack sequences apart from the ones we've saved for laters." I say with a knowing wink.

"The communication was great, I understood everything you signalled Rui-chan!" Kozue compliments me.

"Thank you, your fade away was perfect too!"

"We had that problem-"

"With motion after a successful rebound, there are tactics for that, but I was trapped by their Power Forward… we can go through that first practice back." I mutter frustrated to myself. We had passed the amount of time for an offense, and it got taken  
off us twice, not ideal.

"Right girls, back to the dorms, Goto should be making dinner." Coach tells us. "You had a good game, relax and we will talk about improvements back at school."

"Ah- Coach?" I ask.

"Rui-chan?"

"Would it be possible for me to eat dinner elsewhere?"

"I suppose so, where do you want to eat?" Coach questions me.

"The volleyball team had their fated practice match against Nekoma, a Tokyo school, and I really want to see how they did!" I explain honestly, bowing my head.

"Waaaa, the boys' volleyball team! You've been spending a lot of time with them…" Akane remarks slyly.

"My brother is in the team, I worry about him." I say nonchalantly.

"Are you sure there isn't a special someone you want to see?" Kozue coos. "Does little Rui have a crush?"

Kageyama's face flashes into my mind.

"Of course not, I don't have time for such trivial things!" I protest but Kozue is already laughing.

"You'll have to point him out to us next time they use our bus!"

I scowl at my senpais, before grabbing my jumper and I start running out of our gym. Kageyama said they were playing in a gym not too far from here, if I run it'll only take me 20 minutes! He said they would probably carry on playing till dinner, when  
the Tokyo team had to leave, so that still means they should be playing!

I start a fast run, not bothered by the exercise after my thorough match warm up. And when I get there, I run up to the spectator balconies, and run up to the railing.

"I made it!" Sure enough, Karasuno in their new black and orange uniform are playing against a team in red uniform, looking quite worn out. I look to the score, and Karasuno are losing, but they still look good.

"You're the girl who helped us out! You came to watch?" I turn around, and the blonde spiker, named Takinoue-san and the man who did the jump floater, Shimada-san are watching.

"Hai, Takinoue-san, Shimada-san. My name is Sugawara Rui! You've been here all the time?" I ask, still panting from my sprint here.

"Yeah, they're on their fourth match." Shimada-san tells me.

"Karasuno lost all of them… but they seem to be improving, Nekoma are a strong team, one of their first years managed to keep up and block Hinata and Kageyama's quick." Takinoue says to me.

"Ah well, practice is practice, this will help them bond as a team, Kageyama-kun told me the first years don't completely fit with the second and third years yet." I tell them.

"That sounds about right. Have you been running Sugawara-chan?" Shimada-san asks.

"Yes, my basketball training week just finished as well, we finished a practice match too at the Town Stadium, then I came straight here." I tell them.

"Ahh, has your training week gone well then?"

"Yeah, the practice match was a solid success, proved our work this week has worked. We had a similar problem to the volleyball team actually… I'm the Point Guard, so I organise the attacks, but the rest of my team are third-years so I didn't know them  
very well, and we didn't know our parameters."

"That is similar then. But had it all worked out in just a week?" Takinoue-san asks, bewildered.

"Yeah. There are less players, and it's a much more individual sport. All five of us are set in terms of technique, and we can work on that individually. Training week was mostly bonding really." I tell them.

"Ah, I guess it's quite different then." I nod.

"Who's their captain? The tall spikey haired one?" I ask as I examine the players, and Shimada-san fills me in on all the details of the Nekoma team. They play a good few more matches, before they seem completely out of energy.

As the boys start putting the equipment away, I start running down.

"You shit!"

"You piece of poo!"

"Kageyama-kun!" I yell, running over to help him and Hinata with the net.

"Eh? Sugawara-chan?" Hinata questions.

"I've told you, call me Rui-chan Hinata!" I say, smiling brightly.

"Did you come and watch? You said you had a practice match too!" Kageyama asks me, frowning slightly.

"Of course, I watched the last couple of matches, you guys were looking great!" I say just as Daichi-san, Asahi-san and Nishinoya-san walk past.

"Rui-chan! Good to see you! How was Basketball training?" Daichi-san asks me.

"Great, we had a brilliant practice match too." I tell them as I start to lift the net up to put away.

"Did you win?" Nishinoya asks, and I wink at him.

"Obviously, 84-45, simple!" I say brightly, and just as I place the net down I hear a loud scream.

"Waaaaaaaaa they have another cute girl! Why is she so prettyyyy!"

"Huh?" I look around, and a guy in red uniform with a blond mohawk standing a few metres away from me is yelling towards me as if I can't hear him.

"Hey!" Kageyama steps in front of me, pressing an arm into my front to push me behind him.

"Yamamoto!" The captain yells, and suddenly Tanaka appears in front.

"You can't touch her either, she's Karasuno property! Respect our senpai's sister!" Tanaka-san yells.

"Tanaka! What have I said- girls aren't property!" I whine angrily, pushing forward from Kageyama.

"SorryRui-chandon'tbeangryRui-chanYou'resocuteRui-chan…" Tanaka rolls off and I shake my head.

"So you do really have it lucky, two girl managers!" Yamamoto-san walks up to Tanaka.

"Not really, Rui-chan's our vice-captain's sister, and Kageyama's friend. She's in the basketball team." Daichi-san says, scratching the back of his head.

"Come on, Yamamoto, quit staring at the pretty girl and get your arse over here!" The captain calls once more and Yamamoto runs off to help with equipment.

"What are you doing here Rui?" I turn and sure enough it's Koshi, asking me the question with actual meaning rather than just wanting me out of here.

"I came to watch the end! Nekoma seems like an interesting team, they were very consistent." I say with a smile, and Koshi nods lightly.

"Yeah. Remember Mum's away on her business trip, you'll have to figure out food." Koshi says to me and I nod.

"What are you going to do?" I ask, internally hoping he'll just go home so we can eat together.

"Us third-years are having a meal together, third-year celebration." Koshi says, and the closed invitation is clear.

"Oh, okay, I'll probably just-"

"Rui-chan, come eat with me. There's a new milkshake café I want to go to." Kageyama interrupts and I turn to him wide-eyed. We've become close friends eating lunch and in class, but we've never really done anything together.

"Oh, that sounds… fun!" I say, trying to cover my surprise and blush rather unsuccessfully.

"I'll make sure she gets home safely Sugawara-senpai." Kageyama says with a bow to Koshi, and I can't see his face.

"Sure." Koshi says, walking off. As Kageyama comes out of his bow, I see a light blush on his face as well.

"We can go after we've said goodbye to Nekoma." Kageyama says, and I nod, still wide-eyed. Wait, could this be like a date? No, we're friends, it's only ever been that, despite any teasing from the senpais. Besides, we're just going to a café, in fact  
he basically just told me a place to eat he happened to be going to. Yeah, let's go with that.

After the goodbyes, I walk side by side with Kageyama into town.

"Be Good! Make sure her parents aren't in!" Tanaka yells from behind us.

"Oi! Shut it Tanaka!" I hear Daichi's yelling and smile sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it Kageyama-kun, let's go get milkshake!" I say with a smile as his cheeks blush red.

"Yeah." He says shortly. "You said you won your practice match, any surprises?"

"Not really, I managed to get through most of my senpai's favoured attacks, but I'm keeping all the best most unusual ones for surprises. I don't think I'm going to score much in our tournaments either, not until we get to the last eight hopefully-Point  
Guards don't usually score, so it makes sense, we can use it as a surprise under pressure." I tell him excitedly. "It's much more exciting starting in a new league. Last year I had already shown my favourite tricks in the finals of second year, so  
people were wary of me. It'll be much more fun this year."

"You're confident of getting to the top eight? For us we're just trying to win the prefecture, but we haven't even looked at Shiratowiza yet, and even Seijoh has never beaten them." Kageyama says slightly dejected.

"Well women's in high school is always slightly less competitive than boys remember, but the rest of my team have already been to nationals, I think they were seventh last year." I wonder aloud. "Plus, I don't really know whether she's just trying to  
make me feel more confident, but Kozue tells me I'm a lot better than the last Point Guard. But now Coach Ukai has decided to stay on, I'm sure you guys will improve leaps and bounds!"

"I hope so, Nekoma were good, and if we want to face them in a real match we have to get to nationals." Kageyama sighs. "It's just here."

We come to a small café called Here & There, and we peer inside. It has little four person and two person booths around the edges and a few small tables and chairs in the centre, and it's around half full at the moment.

"They do hot food here as well I think." Kageyama says, as we make our way to a two person booth and I slip onto the cushioned bench first, looking out the window.

"This is lovely." I murmur, looking down at the menu. I end up ordering chilli oyakodon (chicken and egg rice bowl) whilst Kageyama asks for a simple chicken ramen.

"Can we have some prawn tempura as well please? And a large strawberry cheesecake milkshake and a large coffee donut milkshake please? Thank You." I finish off our order, thoroughly looking forward to my coffee and donut milkshake.

"Thank you for taking me here, Kageyama-kun, I really appreciate it. I'm so hungry after so much practice, and I'm too lazy to go home and cook for myself!" I say sweetly, and Kageyama just blinks.

"Sure." He says, looking away slightly. "Sugawara-senpai's amazing with the team, and he's much more experienced than I… but I can't help questioning why he's so cold to you. It really confuses me." Kageyama says, and I smile sadly with a sigh.

"It's been this way a while Kageyama, I don't really understand either. I'd hoped we grow closer since I go to high school with him… but it hasn't turned out that way. It got a little worse even, though he seems to be back to how he was before now." I  
tell him honestly.

"That's why I wanted to take you here…" Kageyama trails off, looking away, but I catch a trace of pink embarrassment. "So you wouldn't think he doesn't like you because you're mean or anything, because I don't have friends, but you're my friend."

I'm a little speechless at Kageyama, who's nervously glancing my way as my lips part, before I suddenly grasp onto his arm tightly.

"Who knew you were so thoughtful Kageyama-kun! You've made me feel so much better, milkshakes, food and compliments! You're just as lovely Kageyama-kun!" I say lovingly, knowing it's making him uncomfortable as his blush intensifies.

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me-"

"Should we give each other nicknames? You already call me Rui, Kageyama-kun's so long…hmm, Tobio-kun?" I wonder, and he turns to me staring, he's cheeks still red and I can't help but giggle.

"It's alright, Kageyama-kun, I won't make you uncomfortable." I tell him as our food arrives, and I unhook my arm from his to grab my chopsticks. We take our first mouthfuls and start eating happily, before he speaks.

"…Tobio's fine." He mumbles, and I look to him with a smile.

"Okay, Tobio-kun." I say happily, before going back to my rice. "Actually, when's your birthday?"

"December 22nd."

"Ah, of course you're older. Naturally everybody's older than me." I mutter irritated.

"When's your birthday then?"

"February 28th. One day later and I'd only have my birthday once every four years." I say with a sigh. (A.N. School starts in April in Japan).

"Kondo-kun in our class has his birthday in March." Tobio-kun offers, and I shake my head in defeat.

"But I don't know him. Ah well. This is tasty, you want some?" I question, holding up a spoonful of my rice.

"-sure." Tobio mutters, looking down slightly with a blush, and I realise how coupley that sounded. Oh well, no going back now.

"Here!" I say, gently pressing the spoon to his lips as he eats it.

"It's good. Have some of mine." I lean over his bowl to use my chopsticks to pick up some noodles, and slurp them up.

"This place really is heaven sent! I mean good standard rice, noodles, tempura is all good, but with these milkshakes!" I say with a bright smile, taking a long sip of my coffee and donut goodness.

"We'll have to come again then." Tobio-kun says, and I nod as we carry on our talk.

12321

"Ah… thanks for finishing my rice off Tobio-kun, I never would've finished that massive portion! Great for after a long training day though." I say to Tobio as we start walking home.

"Oh. Thanks for the extra food."

I laugh, shoving his side lightly. Honestly I've never seen anyone with an appetite like Kageyama, it never ends.

"How long till the interhigh for you guys now, a week or so?" I ask and he nods.

"The matchups should be coming out soon. It would be a pity if we never got to play Seijoh, I can't wait to wipe that stupid grin off Oikawa-senpai's face!" Tobio growls, threatening the pavement as I laugh.

"Tobio-kun, it kind of defeats the point if you still call him senpai!"

"Whatever."

"This is me." I say, stopping just outside my front doorway.

"Will you be alright? It doesn't look like Sugawara-senpai is back yet." Tobio asks me and I shake my head.

"It's already dark, he'll be back soon. Thank you for eating with me Tobio-kun, make sure you get home safe." I say with a smile, before turning and heading in, waving.

 **Another chapter up! I thought I'd develop Rui's place in basketball more as well as her friendly relationship with Kageyama- they aren't anything more than friends at the moment, but I wanted to show that there is a form of "Oh I kinda like him he's cute" and "She's so lovely and pretty" on either side, did I do okay? Anyway, read and review as always, next chapter will be the interhigh, so I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Aquafin- Thanks so much for your review once again! Don't worry, this chapter is pretty good for Rui, though I can't say much for the next few… otherwise this fic would be so straight forward! Thanks for reading!**

 **ToyWolf- A review like yours means so much! I'm glad people enjoy Rui's character development, I wondered whether it was too much since most Anime Fanfic do focus of ships or comedy, but I'm glad it's appreciated! This chapter has a good amount on her basketball as well as normalising her and Kageyama, so I hope you enjoy it!**

My foot taps insistently with impatience on the shiny, squeaky floor as my head lies hung.

"You were the one who made this decision Rui-chan, I don't know why you're like this." Coach says from beside me as the shouts and cheers of the crowd drown out. I glance up, having been observing the game in my peripherals.

"I know coach, it's just… tense. I haven't played all day and… I'm sure you understand."

It's the finals of the interhigh basketball tournament, in Tokyo.

Yesterday, I had played in first of two matches, whilst Kozue was on the bench, and Sasaki-san took her place. Since then, Sasaki-san and another third-year Maeda-san have been swapping with the regulars, but I haven't played in the quarter-finals or  
/semis today, and now it's the finals.

All methods of confusion, of course. I held back considerably, only going for simple skills in the first match, and up today in the quarter-finals and the semis, the wins were extremely small margins.

So far, it's the second quarter of the game, and I stay on the bench.

Coach is right, it was my decision. The tactics of high school teams are much different from middle school as the general height and strength of each player is higher, but most of all, it gives us a trump card. So, I've been observing the match, watching  
/the Akirudai Seniors play, but as soon as the whistle blows…

"Great work senpais!" I greet with a smile as I bolt upright and hand out water bottles.

"Cut the crap Rui, we're exhausted give us the details." Akane groans. All of the third years including Sasaki-san played the first half, and now I swap in.

"They've been hiding a skill, I watched their last match, and their shooting guard number 4 can take three pointers comfortably from a stride away from the line. It's my guess they're planning to use that to break away in the second half, as she's been  
/very quiet. So, we're going box out, and I'll follow shooting guard. Other than that, I think they favour the sides and shots not using the backboard, so make the box out as close to the backline as possible, try and force them through the middle  
/where they're less comfortable. As for our attack, we're not waiting around, we'll do rotation 8." I explain my findings as they sit and rest drinking water heavily.

"Which one comes first again, L run or Point 3?" Fukumi asks whilst they rest.

"L run, it's so unusual they won't expect my steal to three." I tell her, and soon enough, it's time to go on.

I see the other team's confusion as I walk on, obviously younger. They're a Tokyo team and the tallest centre who stands easily at 6 foot glares down at me tauntingly.

"Did the other one give up? Aww we were having fun struggling, it's no fun winning if we don't struggle." She taunts, number 32. Sure enough, Akirudai Senior are leading by four points, but not for long. I let my eyes travel over her, taking in the slight  
/cock of her knee. She's been injured, and if she's clever she won't jump too much on that. Pity I didn't have time to tell Fukumi that, I'll have to slip it to her later.

I just smirk confidently as we all take our positions, and its off to a flash.

Fukumi tips the ball to Ichiko who starts dribbling down our side of the court, and though my mark seems confused she rushes off without me as my jog is extremely slow. I stay back as Ichiko goes straight for a simple layup, that falls in easily, and  
/my eyes follow the ball into their centre's hands, to Power Forward, to Small Forward, back to Power Forwar-

Whoosh!

My feet skate across the floor as my fingertips tip the ball out of place, before changing the angle right to Kozue.

"Nice Rui!" She calls before cutting straight across the court, crossing Ichiko, and Ichiko takes the ball before jumping and scoring the L run.

"And straight off the bat Karasuno evens the point gap with an incredible steal! Now what- OH! Oh my God!"

I passed their Power Forward by the side, tapping the ball towards me as I pass into a back dribble, and it takes a few more strides to a sudden stop as I bend and release the ball in a simple arc into the hoop.

"A three pointer! Karasuno has taken the lead in the first half a minute of the second half! This is unbelievable, could it be their new first year? A Point Guard surely!"

"I think it must, she accomplished two steals, not only consecutively but from the same person number 15 of Akirudai!"

You see, Rotation 8 is a group of 8 varied attacks that we run in the same order, which provides us with a set plan without giving anything away with signals. The others call to each other to confuse our opponents, the only name calling that really matters  
/is

"Senpai!" I yell as I observe their Small Forward right in the way of Akane's line, and we don't have access for a screen right now.

"Two up!" I call and they nod, just as I catch the wary glance from my mark I dash forward, to catch the bounce pass from Akane and charge straight down the centre and jump. I feel the shove of my shoulder from the side, and I know I'll get a free throw  
/from the foul. But in this moment, I throw the ball slightly to the left, where I know Fukumi is waiting having jumps simultaneously with me, and she tips it in.

"And that there was a perfect play and… yes number 21 of Karasuno is getting ready for her free throw…"

It's a simple shot, straight in.

And then the third quarter is up and we've past the 50 point mark, 58-41.

And it's in the last quarter, the shooting guard tries to make her move.

As soon as we school she holds back as to come from behind, and I hold up two four fingers to signal our box out close to the backline. And I don't let go of her.

I see her frustration as I block her lines with jagged movements, and for a second I slow to let her in front then shoot ahead, catching the pass to her easily and sprinting straight back to the other side. Their centre is already back, but I'm confident  
/of my jumping height, and she's hiding her injury with her natural height. I leap up as her hands whip out, and my fingers catch round the hoop as it goes over.

I keep up the pressure, and they haven't scored once in the whole quarter as we enter the last five minutes.

But I see their coach yelling and pointing straight at me, and groan.

"Kozue!" I yell as I dribble the ball easily as I observe the other team rearranging, comfortable with the time left allowed for possession.

"Yeah?" She says, running up to me.

"Take Point, comfort shots only." I mutter to her, and sure enough, as she moves away I charge in, and just as I suspected they're double teaming me. Without a care in the world I dribble a number of consecutive fakes, before running through the middle  
/of them whilst dribbling the ball round the right to catch it behind them, before leaping up for a quick fade away as their centre comes at me.

But after that, I get no breathing room. I try for steals but find myself preoccupied, and though Akane gets a three pointer and Ichiko gets two shots, their shooting guard has gotten three three pointers.

They're nowhere near close though.

With a mad dash as the final seconds kick in, I head in low straight to their small forward who's in possession, and for the sole reason of humiliating them for double teaming me, I trip it out between her legs before sprinting, stopping suddenly at the  
/three point line and scoring.

"And that's the end! What a half time turnaround for Karasuno who ARE NOW THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, with a massive score of 86-52. 86, I mean against a team known for their defence, who also came second in last year's interhigh, that is incredible!"

"They had such a variety of attacks it was so unpredictable! I don't think I've ever seen a high school team make use of so many different, and complex techniques!"

"It was the steals though! Akirudai seniors just didn't have any chance to attack after that half time, they only scored 18 in that second half, where Karasuno scored 56. That's crazy, over fifty in just one half… Amazing."

"RUI-CHAN!" I'm run over by Kozue who hugs me to the floor, followed by multiple grunts as the weight on me grows.

"Ah! Senpai you're too heavy!" I moan as they pile on, but only laughs reply.

"Get up you numpties! You have to shake hands!" Coach yells, and I manage to drag my teary eyed senpais to the opponents, Akane tears streaming down her face. The strongest sense of satisfaction flows through me, and it's time for the awards ceremony.

12321

"Congratulations Sugarawara-chan!"

It comes as a chorus and individual greetings the next day at school. I won't lie, I'm used to wearing a national championship proud and strong, but for some reason the way this has spread makes me feel uneasy. I know my own character, and I've learnt  
/I really don't care about being arrogant or showing pride in my successes, the only time I really try to be modest is… with Koshi.

I can't find it within me to do anything my smile, almost smirk with pride, it's completely logical to be proud of success, right?

"Congratulations Sugawara-chan!" Our homeroom teacher says as she walks in and I smile with thanks. Even the principal congratulated me in the hallway, and I don't think anyone wouldn't feel proud. I get a few backhand comments from teachers about concentrating  
/on my studies, but it's worth it.

"Oh? It was your competition wasn't it, how did it go?" Tobio asks as he slides in just after the teacher, sitting down next to me.

"1st in the country." I mumble to him, blushing slightly.

"You didn't know Kageyama-kun? But you two are friends!" Yoshiba-kun, the girl who sits on the other side of me says, confused, and Tobio scratches the back of his head.

"This is the first I've seen him since." I say honestly. "I didn't have any way of telling him." I smile sheepishly.

"Wah, Kageyama-kun, you should take interest in these things, didn't you get special recognition or something Sugawara-chan?"

"Ah… yeah I guess... basically I was the best sub-in really..." I say, avoiding the subject.

"So it worked then? Your strategy of swapping starters?" Tobio-kun asks and I nod with a smile.

"Like a dream! I was thinking of going to volleyball practice to tell you guys when we got back, but my legs kind of gave out…" I tell him.

"Oh. What's your number then, you should've told me." Tobio-kun questions bluntly.

"Ah, of course." I reply, blushing slightly. Why am I blushing? It's normal for friends to have each other's numbers.

I write down my number, tearing of a scrap of my notebook.

"Was it a difficult match for you then?" Tobio-kun asks as I write.

"I guess, the last quarter they double teamed me, and I had to make up my senpai's fatigue, so it was a lot of stress on my body." I tell him before giving him the number.

"It's good you weren't injured. Thanks… I can't remember mine. I'll text you when I remember." Tobio says and I roll my eyes.

"If you remember, Tobio-kun." I whisper as the homeroom teacher starts quieting us down.

12321

"You ready for your interhigh then?" I question as Tobio-kun picks out two milk cartons from the vending machine.

"Of course, we have to catch up to our esteemed girl's basketball team." He replies, and I blink.

"Tobio-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Did you just tease me?"

His face is covered by a shadow of deep red, and he looks pointedly away.

"Shut up! Don't think I'll be nice just cos you're a girl!" He persists as I grin biting my lip as to not laugh at him, but I can't help it when he moodily shoves the milk carton into my hands.

"Haha! Oh thank you Tobio-kun, I don't mean to make fun of you I promise!" I say, making my way into his line of sight with a smile.

"It's nothing to do with that! It's a present, for winning. I expect the same too!" He retorts, and turns to start stalking away but I grab him by the arm and steer him to the direction he actually wants to be going, to the volleyball gym.

"Sorry, Tobio-kun! Okay?"

"…whatever." I laugh slightly.

"I'm sorry about not being to help out, but I missed so much yesterday I really have to work. It's the interhigh association's fault for having it in the week, plus I won't have much time in the weekend since I'm going to be watching you guys…" I say  
/as we get towards the entrance.

"It's fine. If we can't do things without you we're nowhere near ready to face Oikawa." Tobio says darkly.

"Right, right then. Of you go, practice well." I say with a wave, before heading to the library.

12321

"Oh, Tobio-kun!" I wave as I catch sight of him on the club room balcony, and he turns surprised.

"Rui-chan. You're early. Didn't you want to come with Sugawara-senpai?" He asks as I make my way up the stairs.

"Well, he isn't far behind, but him, Daichi and Asahi tend to meet up before matches, and it would just be awkward." I admit as I go to stand next to him. "Speaking of early, so are you. Couldn't sleep?"

"Of course I slept! Honestly…" He mutters, not meeting my eyes. "I just live close by, and decided to warm up for the day by running, that's all!"

"That's all, of course." I agree with a smile. "Oh look, it's Hinata."

Sure enough, an orange blob comes speeding towards us.

"Hinata-kun!" I shout from above.

"What are you doing? Get him to stay away!" Tobio protests and I just look at him knowingly.

"Good Morning Rui-chan!" Hinata shouts as he runs up the stairs.

"Are you feeling better about this match? Going to give it your all?" I ask and he jumps up in the air.

"Of course, nothing less!"

"Oi dumbass, stop making so much noise." Tobio-kun grumbles and I place a hand lightly on his arm with a look telling him to be nice.

"What was that thing I heard Daichi say? Everyone on your side of the net is your ally?" I question aloud and Tobio grumbles indistinctively.

"That's right! Listen to Rui-chan Kageyama-kun, she knows what she's doing, she's a champion!" Hinata says and I smile. "Oh look, it's the senpais!"

"Sure enough, Daichi-san, Asahi-san and Koshi have just come into view.

"Good Morning!" Tobio-kun and Hinata-kun say in unison, bowing as I just smile and wave.

"Yeah! We'll open up the clubroom now!" Daichi calls up. "Ah, Rui-chan, congratulations on your win! We'll have to match our school's reputation!"

I smile brightly. "Karasuno, national champions in Basketball and Volleyball, what a sight!" I say with a grin.

"Isn't that going a bit far?" Asahi-san laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Not at all!Why should we stop for anyone?" I question, and he seems taken aback slightly by my resolve.

"Spoken like a true champion." Daichi-san laughs, patting my back. "Let's go!"

12321

I take the bus with them to the gymnasium, and as we step out I feel slightly out of place in my long sleeve cropped grey basketball sweater and black denim skirt with my usual high socks and boots, but I have an large orange bow in my hair to be Karasuno  
/colours.

"… a totally lame nickname."

"Really? What is it?"

"If I remember correctly, the fallen champs, the clipped crows."

Oooo, bad timing there. We're lined up behind two poor souls who just had that conversation, and I don't even need to look to see the malicious provoking glares into their backs.

"Hey! Be careful!" One of them turns round and sees us, but lucky for them, Daichi isn't petty.

"Can't fly? What was that? Hmm?"

Tanaka is grabbed roughly back by the collar.

"Come on, we're going. I'm so sorry." He apologises. "Stop picking fights." I hear him reprimand as I walk ahead with Tobio-kun.

"Yessir."

"They look so dark."

"One of them doesn't look like he belongs in high school!"

"Is that who I think it is? It's Azumane from Karasuno!"

It's not difficult to hear the talk of the players around us, and I realise this must be what it's like at boys' competitions, so much trash talk, and backhand comments. Well, not that I can talk.

"I heard he got his underlings to beat up the guys from North High."

"And he tried to sell questionable substances in the streets!"

"And he got held back five years."

I can't help but laugh slightly, sending a smile to Asahi.

"Does this happen a lot, Asahi-san?" I question.

"There, there, it's just the norm." Koshi says with a pitiful look at Asahi, chuckling with me.

"That's the image you project." Daichi agrees.

"All I wanted was to look a little wild on the outside… that's all!" Asahi-san tries to reason.

"Well none of its true right? So it doesn't matter." I say trying to calm the obviously fragile ace.

"Thanks Rui-chan!" Asahi-san says, genuinely smiling.

"There you see? Nobody wild would go around saying that." Koshi mocks and I can't help the smirk that reaches my face.

"What's wrong with that? Who cares the way you look?" Nishinoya-san laughs, and all of a sudden both Daichi and Koshi have a hand on Nishonoya's shoulder's like proud parents.

"This is what we called wild."

I shake my head in amusement.

"It looks like the banner did its job." I hear Takeda-sensei in the background.

"Oh, Rui-chan, could you help us with the banner?" Shimizu-san asks and I nod as I start walking next to her.

"She's really pretty."

"The younger one's so cute."

"Go talk to them then!"

"Should we? Should we really?"

All of a sudden the atmosphere changes and I'm stopped in my tracks by Shimizu as Tanaka and Nishinoya start circling us, red eyes and claws out, followed by sketchy stares from Tobio-kun.

"Knock that off!" Shimizu-san says sharply, knocking Tanaka and Nishinoya on the back of their heads before she moves me forward.

"Look happy Tobio-kun, you're playing volleyball!" I say with a wave goodbye.

When we reach the stands, I help tie the refurbished black banner directly over the court Karasuno is playing on, before saying goodbye to Takeda-sensei and Shimizu-san, leaning on the railing, waving with a smile of good luck at the team below. My eyes  
/find Koshi, who I beam at happily, and as I see a small smile in return, I grin even wider.

"Hey! It's turnip head!" I hear Hinata say and look to the side, and sure enough Aoba Johsai has come to the stands. I believe they're seeded, so don't have to play for the first rounds.

"What's a turnip head?" Turnip head questions.

"You are. Who else could it be?" A teammate chuckles.

"Yoohoo! Tobio-chan and shrimp!" Sure enough, not far behind is Oikawa, who's relaxed manner I observe with wide eyes. He's dangerous, he is. "Having fun with your deviant combination?"

One of his teammates, seems to have a short temper.

"Ow! That hurt Iwa-chan!" Oikawa whines. "Oh? They have a libero now. They didn't in our practice match."

"They seem to have more big guys now." So-called Iwa-chan adds.

"They also have a new instructor… I think." The coach says. "New players and a new coach. How has Karasuno changed?"

"Oh? Tobio-chan's girlfriend is here! What is it, do you want a picture, an autograph… to confess maybe?" Oikawa notices me, and I turn my blank face to him. "I'll give you some advice, go do something for your own life rather than following Tobio-chan  
/all the time, you're too pretty for him."

"Shut it idiot!" So-called Iwa-chan punches him.

"A picture? I'm sorry, but I don't know you." I smile, innocence laced through my tone as I sweeten my voice and take a step closer. "Thanks for the advice, but actually I've got a fresh new national title to my name, and best Point Guard for two years  
/my senior. I must have forgotten, you got to nationals when…?"

As I trail of, eyes gazing simply at the third-year, his gaze turns dark as he lets out a chuckle.

"Basketball eh? Crows indeed…" He mutters before moving to sit down, and I smile to myself as I go back to face the game.

The whistle blows, and Daichi-san walks forward to shake hands, before they all line up.

"Let's have a good match!"

 **We're at the interhigh Woohoo! Things are really moving now, I'm sorry I'm a little late, but updates are going to be extremely sporadic for the next two weeks, just a warning! This chapter basically introduced more of Rui's natural disposition of extreme talent and observance, which will come into play later I won't be going into the interhigh matches in much detail, since I'm assuming everyone reading has watched it all (cos once you start its finished in days XD), I'll be focussing more on characters feelings and actions after, going into more depth, especially with Kageyama and Suga obviously! Anyway, read and review, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Aquafin Thanks for reviewing again! Rui winning is a big part of her personality, so I'm glad you enjoyed it!**

 **Aoa1012 It's great your enjoying it, I'll try to keep it up!**

 **AnimeFan972 Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!**

Sure enough, the first match doesn't take long, as Karasuno win in straight sets. It's comfortable, which is always a good sign.

"Are these guys fully aware they have another match to play this afternoon?" I catch the Aoba Johsai team lounging on the seats in my peripherals. "It's just that victory was a sure thing, so they should've kept as much energy in reserve as possible."

"What's so bad about it? We got to see them play for keeps." Oikawa says smugly, and I fight the urge to turn and glare at him. "But they didn't use their deviant fast attack."

"The other match is finished as well, Date Tech won by a landslide." Another Aoba Johsai member says, and as I watch Karasuno leave the gym, I decide to go and congratulate them.

As I walk through the halls, I hear random spectators mention Karasuno, especially a particular ginger haired spiker, and I smile. It seems to be going to plan.

"Congrats guys, it was a comfortable first win!" I say as I reach the boys, stretching on the floor.

"Thanks Rui-chan. You having fun?" Daichi-san asks me and I nod with a smile. I see Kageyama stretching on the floor with his back to me, and move closer to push down on his back.

"Is that better Tobio-kun?" I ask as his head turns in surprise.

"Yeah. Thanks." He mutters, facing away again as I help him stretch. Once he's done, he stands and looks pointedly at Hinata, who is bubbling with joy and pride, as he hears the praise from passer-by's.

"Wh-what?" Hinata jumps, looking suspiciously scared towards Tobio-kun. "I'm allowed to be happy! No one's ever said that kind of stuff about me!"

Kageyama grows a creepy grin, and I can't help but purse my lips to stop laughing.

"Did I say anything? It's great that you're getting noticed. The more our opponents notice you and get defensive around you, the more you can tap into your potential." Kageyama says and I nod. Always thinking about the game, he is.

"I'm not sure what you're saying," Hinata sports a blank face, "but for now your smile terrifies me!"

I don't even see Kageyama's hand reach up, only Hinata's face in pain as Tobio-kun roughly grabs his hair.

"Yeah he's right!" Coach Ukai says, just as I pry Tobio-kun's hand off of Hinata. "Anyway, 'that tiny number ten' will set an excellent mood. The brighter the mood is, the more it will blind the opponent's blockers."

The team gather round, as the plan starts for Date Tech.

"We'll be using the same starting lineup for round two as we did for round one."

My eyes flick to Koshi instinctively, but his face is passive.

As the team separates to eat, I stay with Hinata and Tobio-kun. And I shouldn't be surprised, we ended up tossing outside in the sun.

"Our next match is against No Brow Iron Wall high school." Hinata says, and I raise a brow at his choice of description.

"That's Date Tech." Tobio-kun says.

"I know that!"

"They were pretty good, won straight sets but the margin was huge, 25 to 9." I tell them.

"Yeah, they're good. I think that the match Karasuno lost in March, is the reason why Azumane-san quit the team." Tobio-kun says, catching my toss to him.

"Really?" Hinata questions.

"Yeah. Asahi-san and Daichi-san come over to our house quite a lot, but now I really think about it Asahi stopped coming over in march." I add evidence to Tobio-kun's suspiscions. "I think it must be Date Tech."

"Blockers that can completely stop Asahi-san from scoring."

"Hinata, Kageyama!" I turn and smile as Koshi stands there. "Have you got a minute?"

I blink slightly, as Hinata and Tobio-kun move up to their senpai.

"I'm counting on you." Koshi says suddenly, and I can sense Hinata and Tobio-kun's surprise. "Date Tech is a strong opponent. Three months ago, they thrashed us good with their Iron Wall block. But now we have our greatest decoy!"

Hinata straightens up, as Koshi turns to Tobio-kun.

"You blazed a path for Hinata to use. Now I want you to blaze a path for our ace, Asahi!"

Tobio-kun straightens up with understanding, and nods his head.

"I'll be cheering for all you guys too, I know you'll do well." I say, patting Tobio-kun on the shoulder. "And remember Oikawa's waiting on the other side." I tell Tobio-kun, who's lips purse with determination.

I help myself to some snacks as I walk back to the stands, and seat myself with a good view of their match. Aoba Johsai have gone down to get ready for their matches, so I'm left without their bickering. And the match starts.

Their pace is steady, and they start off slow, just as they planned. But sure enough, the iron wall is an excellent description of Date Tech, as so close to the beginning, Asahi-san is shut down from the back. They really are massive, the middle blocker  
/especially. Tanaka-san is shut down as well, and it's easy to figure out Tobio-kun will bring out the deviant fast attack.

"Yes Tobio-kun! Go Hinata!" I yell with a smile as they pull it out of the bag, and I smirk smugly as Date Tech's cheering squad has gone silent.

Then they switch back to normal attacks, and I smile. Just keep the rhythm going, and they'll be overwhelmed before they know it.

Not long after, they pull out another crazy fast attack, this time from right at the back of the court, and I shake my head at how Tobio-kun managed that.

"You're so slow! We could've missed the match!"

"But customers are so rare!"

I look over, recognising some voices and sure enough it's Shimada-san and Takinoue-san from the Karasuno Neighbourhood association.

"Is that you Sugawara-chan?" Shimada-san asks and I nod, moving over.

"Yeah, the first match was a breeze, and they just pulled out the deviant fast attack. Our ace is still being shut down though, but it's working, slowly." I inform them, and we continue to watch.

"Hurry up! The boys are still playing their second match!" I look over again, and on the other side of me, I recognise the Karasuno girls' volleyball uniform, and raise my eyebrows. Out in the first round, probably, if they're here already.

"I don't believe it! They're beating Date Tech!"

Just then, they pull out a quick, and I survey the girls' team.

"What was that?"

"A quick attack?"

"He's a first year, isn't he?"

"Did that little guy just jump incredibly high?"

So much question and indecision. There's no way I could join the girls' team, I've heard enough to know they just lie around, gossip and paint their nails. It would be an awful clash, and in a team sport… it would never work.

A shame though, the girls' team would be a simple way to get closer to Koshi as well… to be more involved in volleyball.

I hear Koshi cheering on the boys from below, and narrow my eyes at one of the third year girls, despite her obliviousness. I recognise her, I think she's friends with Ichiko-senpai.

"Huh? Sugawara isn't playing."

I look away, and keep my eyes on the game. They're in their stride. At this rate, it'll be straight sets as well this round.

Hinata seems to have gotten the hang of that delayed attack Nekoma did, that slinky captain who never stopped smirking. It really was a productive practice match.

But then again, Date Tech isn't holding back.

"Hey, hey. That block is scary." Shimada-san says, as Date Tech's tallest spiker utterly shuts down Hinata's spike.

"A block like that can change the momentum." Takinoue-san agrees, and I nod.

"That guy has some serious calm. I doubt he's affected at all by their losing margin." I add in.

But the face that blocker keeps his eyes mostly on Hinata is a good thing, brilliant in fact. Because if the boys want to carry on improving, they need Asahi-san. And Asahi-san needs to get past this.

And just then, at the brink of a bad receive, as Kageyama steps forward to toss to Hinata, it's like a shadow is cast over the whole gym, as Asahi-san steps out from the back, and slams down an echoing point.

"Yes Asahi-san!" I yell in cheer.

"That's the same pipe Nekoma did!" Shimada-san says, and I smile happily.

"They've got this in the bag. Straight sets." I say to myself.

And sure enough, though the second set is closer, they win with a last spike from Asahi-san.

"Sawamura, Sugawara, Azumane!" The same girl calls over the third years. "Congrats on making it to the third round!"

"Michimiya! I thought I heard a lot of girl's voices." Daichi-san says and I chuckle lightly.

"Didn't you notice them?" Koshi asks.

"Aya-senpai!" All of a sudden Tanaka and Nishinoya are over here, celebrating loudly. "Rui-chan thanks for cheering us on!"

The other girls look to me as I smile and wave.

"You guys deserved it! That was brilliant!" I congratulate.

"You're that first-year basketball ace aren't you…" Michimiya-san says to me and my mouth hangs open slightly. "Why are you here then?"

"I'm here to cheer my brother on! You guys beat Date Tech. You got your revenge." I say to the third year trio, and theyexchange looks seriously.

"Yeah! And we'll keep winning!" Daichi-san promises, and I smile. The rest of the team run over and Shimada-san and Takinoue-san start clapping beside me, so I join in.

I give a bright smile to Tobio-kun who is grinning with victory, and can't help but laugh at Hinata who is almost shivering with excitement.

But as they leave the gym, the squealing girls I had been desperately trying to ignore suddenly sound louder, and my eyes avert over to the Seijoh match.

23 to 14. I don't even need to read the names to know who's winning. That's his eighth consecutive serve.

I meet up with the team to watch the rest of Aoba Johsai's match, but it's going to take more than watching a single set of their match to find a way around the crazy force of Oikawa.

I sit next to Kiyoko-san on the coach back, where all the players are asleep.

"It's so quiet." Takeda-sensei notes.

"They're all passed out." Kiyoko-san agrees.

"They did play two matches. We won both in straight sets, so it could've been worse." Coach Ukai says. "If we win tomorrow, not only will there be two matches a day, but our opponents will get progressively stronger. We need them freshly motivated for  
/each match."

"Hai." Takeda-sensei says.

"Um.. er Coach Ukai?" I get his attention, after glancing back at the solidly asleep Tobio-kun.

"What is it? You watched all the matches right, did you learn anything?" Coach Ukai leans forward, and I tilt my head slightly.

"A little. Though it's not just that. It's to do with Oikawa-san and Kageyama-kun." I tell him, and he sits forward.

"Of course. Do you think Kageyama can overpower him?" Coach asks.

"As a setter, yes. But… you may think me biased because he's my brother, but it might be a good idea to switch Kageyama-kun out against Seijoh." I say softly, but my eyes are sharp, and Coach narrows his eyes in understanding.

"I'm listening."

"It's easy to see Kageyama-kun feels he has something to prove to Oikawa-san, which makes him slightly irrational."

"Yes I'd thought about that."

"But not only with Kageyama, I think Oikawa-san is the opposite. The Seijoh team were sitting right by me in the first round and a little for the second, and Oikawa-san was completely uncaring. Except with Kageyama-kun." I inform him. "It was an intense  
/concentration, analysing his choices and plays. Not to mention he was once on Kageyama's team, so probably knows a lot of Kageyama's ticks."

"So you think Seijoh will be tougher to beat if Kageyama is playing."

I nod. "The deviant quick is something we can use against them, but beyond that… I think changing setter during the course of the match is the best tactical decision. It's my bet Oikawa-san has based their entire attack on what Kageyama can do. Instead  
/we should make use of the attacks they haven't seen."

"Sugawara." Coach Ukai surmises, and I nod.

"Wow, Sugwara-chan you seem to be very good at this and observant." Takeda-sensei praises, and I bow my head slightly.

"It's part of what I do in volleyball as Point Guard. Look for the self-conscious body language of opposition, it tells you a lot about their plan." I say.

"Of course. You won an award at that national basketball thing right? What did you win?" Coach Ukai questions, and I bow my head again.

"Well, our team came first, and I won Best Point Guard." I say.

"As a first-year? Damn, why didn't you play volleyball…" Coach Ukai mutters, and I turn my head, looking back at Tobio-kun and Koshi. I hope neither of them find out about this, and dislike me for it. I know what it takes to win though. And from what  
/I watched from Seijoh today, tomorrow's going to be hard.

As the meeting back at school finishes, we all start walking home, and I trail behind Koshi, Daichi-san and Asahi-san.

"Kageyama seems more on edge than usual." Daichi-san says, and I look ahead and see Kageyama looking ever so slightly more moody than usual. Tilting my head and biting my lip slightly, I run forward to walk beside him.

"Tobio-kun, feeling tense for your next match? You know getting pent up won't help your playing." I say softly, and his brow furrows slightly.

"I know that! I can't help it anyway, I'm sure you felt the same when you were playing last week in Tokyo." Tobio-kun says defensively, and I take a hold of his arm and stroke it slightly.

"… not really. I didn't know any of them. None of the players I played last year were in any of the teams, there weren't any first years. Besides, I always distance myself from bias and particular players or teams, it breaks my concentration." I tell  
/him, but he still looks troubled. "He's just another player Tobio-kun. Another step to the top."

"Kageyama! You'll end up with permanent frown lines in your late teens!" I hear Hinata yell and my lips curl in amusement as Tobio-kun shifts forward to threaten him. "We're gonna overthrow the Great King tomorrow! We're gonna be on TV, so you need to  
/practice looking pleasant!"

"Mind your own business!" Tobio-kun yells. "We're winning this match. We have to win to advance."

"Alright!" Hinata yells, before running off.

"Come on, I'll walk you home." Tobio-kun tells me and I look up confused.

"It's fine, I'll just-"

"Sugawara-senpai has already gone ahead, and it's dark. Come on." He says, dragging me along. I go with him, knowing I won't be able to stop him, before a few moments later. "I don't look unpleasant do I?"

I laugh as Tobio-kun gains a strong blush and looks away, and I shake my head.

"Not at all unpleasant Tobio-kun, I promise. Just dedicated, and concentrated. Quite the opposite of unpleasant." I tell him sweetly, before realising my words, and blushing myself. What am I talking about?! Sure, he's not ugly… I mean he's really quite  
/handsome but…

"Let's go." Tobio-kun mutters, and I follow along.

12321

And despite all the enthusiasm… enthusiasm doesn't mean victory.

"Form a line!" Daichi-san yells, as they line up, shaking, exhausted, disappointed.

"Thank you for the match!"

I clap with a sad smile, cheering saying they did great. But I feel odd… almost like I'm separated from them. I know why as well. I don't understand what it's like to be in their position.

The meal after is just as awkward, the silence holding true as everyone is lost for words, and I feel like I'm white in a sea of black. Then they start crying, and it only intensifies that feeling. I've never cried after a match. And I have no idea what  
/to do, what to say. It's just a pit of pity.

Koshi avoided me all the way home that night. And all the morning after.

12321

"The third years are staying on the team, right?" I hear Hinata's voice as I reach the volleyball gym, having noticed the obviously missing figure of Tobio-kun. Today had already felt awkward, as even though Tobio-kun said good morning, he hadn't said  
/a word to me since. Was it right to leave him alone? I didn't know what to do… "They're taking part in the spring tournament, aren't they?"

Of course they are… Koshi wouldn't quit volleyball…

"Crap! Hurry!" Sure enough I hear footsteps and Koshi, Daichi-san and Asahi-san all arrive at the gym, and I smile, despite the wash over gaze, as Koshi doesn't see me at all.

"You're late!" Tanaka-san says.

"Let's go to spring nationals!"

"All right!"

The drills start, and I help by feeding the balls, even setting as more and more drills are run.

"Tell me if they're too high Asahi-san, I'm used to a basketball hoop." I say as Asahi-san scratches the back of his neck.

"You could take a bigger run up Tsukishima-san." I suggest, although he just shrugs.

"That was brilliant Hinata!" I say with a smile, just as the rain starts coming down outside.

Coach arrives soon, with news.

"Seijoh… lost?"

"There's a team that beats Seijoh within our own prefecture." Coach Ukai says. "We have to be stronger. I'm sure you all know our next objective. Spring Nationals."

After the news of Shiratorizawa winning the place to nationals, the mood deepens, despite the new found energy for the Spring Tournament. And the tension is ready to snap.

"Wow, that was a little short on my side, but the run up could've been greater as well-" I turn back to constructively criticize the last spiker of my toss, but abruptly stop. "…Koshi."

"Sure, since you know everything." He mutters as he passes me, and every muscle in my body tenses.

"I'm sorry?" The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, the unsettlement in me shaking.

"What are you even doing here?" Koshi says roughly, and as I don't have an answer, the silence rings and it isn't hard to realise the attention is on us. "Come on." Koshi snaps, grabbing a hold of my arm and taking me outside.

"Where are we going?"

"I'll spare them from hearing what everyone's thinking." Koshi snaps, as he closes the doors to the gym and we stand under the walkway covered from the rain, splashing down around us.

"What are you even doing here Rui? You shouldn't be here!" Koshi snaps to me.

"Why shouldn't I be? Is there some rule saying I can't be here? Saying I can't help everyone after you-"

"Lost. After we lost, because we lose, and you win." Koshi says to me, his eyes fiery. "You shouldn't be here Rui, you don't understand, and I know you don't, you don't lose!"

"And that warrants me not to help others? Not to help you, because I want to help my brother? I don't know why this bothers you!" I yell back. Seeing as though he's obviously snapped, I might as well. "I thought we were getting better these past weeks,  
/walking home together, actually talking for once! What is your problem?!"

"My problem is you, Rui! You see us try hard, you see me work to death so why is it that you always win?! Why is it you always get what you want?!" Koshi yells, waving his arms in obvious frustration. As my eyes well up with tears I take instinctive steps  
/forward in anger.

"I'm sorry if my hard work paid off! Don't think I don't work hard, it's not my fault you don't have the same level of dedication!" The tears start falling.

"Dedication! I'm just as dedicated if not more so-"

"Oh yes, hanging out with your friends, going out to dinner, I don't have that luxury, so I'm rewarded for my endeavours!" I argue, as the water keeps on falling.

"Endeavours? You just have to ask and everything will go your way, you can't fool me!" Koshi yells back. "I deserve it just as much-"

"It's not my fault you're not good enough. It's not my fault you lose, that's on you! In fact you didn't even get on the starting lineup, that's also on you! And jealousy isn't a reason to completely ignore me for years, and years, and leave me alone!"  
/I yell angrily. "I knew, I always knew it bothered you, but I'm not going to work less so you look like the better sibling!"

"Better sibling? You're the goody-two shoes who just butters up mum and dad, you're just spoilt!"

"Being spoilt wasn't what won me my national championship, it wasn't what got me the best grades in my year and it certainly isn'twhat makes me a winner! Why won't you just let me help you?!"

"Because you don't understand! You don't understand anything, you never have! Your wins are never true wins, because a loser winning means so much more! I don't want help from someone like you." Koshi snarls, and I can't help the sobs that wreck me as  
/I run out of things to say.

"I don't understand, Koshi." What I meant to be an argument comes out as a whimper, as Koshi turns his back to me.

"So don't try and help. You don't help at all. It just hurts." He mutters, opening the door to the gym, the yellow light warm against the blue-grey of the rain. The strong taste of salt covers my lips, as the school is locked, but I can't follow him in  
/there, not like this. I hate the salt, I need to, I need to-

My legs follow the strong urge to run, as I sprint out into the flash of cold of the rain. Within seconds it's gone though, as my skin gets used to the temperature as I run down the courtyard, and past the gates of the school, and further into the grey.

 **Another chapter, and Rui and Suga had their argument… I have an explanation planned next chapter, as there's stuff I missed out purposely in previous chapters, though I guess it was kind of a hint by the fact there wasn't any writing for anything except with Kageyama, volleyball, or basketball. Anyway, I hope the summary of the interhigh was alright, Rui's involvement was pretty low, and I hope I emphasized her feeling separated from the Karasuno volleyball team, since it was leading up to her and Suga's fight. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, read and review as always!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Animefreak112097- thanks for the review! I personally am not for the whole car accident amnesia thing- but the idea about Rui having problems with basketball and making Koshi feel bad is definitely going to be a part of this fic!**

 **Aquafin- thanks for another review! I know, the drama got real last chapter, but this chapter is so fluffy and adorable (and corny, but I couldn't help it…), I'm sure you'll love it!**

 **Deadlywhisper51 I'm glad you've enjoyed the fic so far! Here's the next chapter, I was away for quite a while and I will be again, so sadly I'm not sure when updates will be, but for now, I hope this satisfies you!**

 **Third Person**

The smack of a spike reaches the floor as a successful spike from Asahi goes through, but as his feet land on the floor the creaking of the gym doors is heard, and attention is drawn to the silver-haired upper-classman. The practice carries on, but is particularly distracted, as eyes dart towards the second setter.

One person in particular, has his attention drawn away, a raven-haired setter, who mutters an apology before running towards Suga.

"Sugawara-san, where is Rui?" Kageyama asks, but all he receives is an irritated glance.

"Suga!" The captain runs over, approaching his second warily. "What's the matter?"

"It doesn't matter." Suga mutters.

"Where's Rui?" Kageyama repeats.

"It doesn't matter." Suga repeats.

"Did you have an argument?" Daichi asks. "Come on, Suga."

Sugawara meets eyes with his captain warily. "Of course, we had an argument. She's always butting in where she doesn't belong, no one needs her perfection." The frustration is clear in his voice, and even Daichi steps back slightly.

"She came here to get closer to you." Kageyama says neutrally, not wanting to get on the bad side of his senpai, but wanting to back up his friend.

Suga scoffs. "I don't care why she came here, she just shouldn't. She should've gone and played with her own friends."

"That's a bit hard." There's surprise throughout the room as Tsukishima's voice is heard. "Seeing as she doesn't have any."

"Shut up, baka!" Kageyama snaps.

"Don't kid me." Sugawara says seriously to Tsukishima.

Tsukishima leans back cockily, his glasses flashing. "What, didn't you know? It's the truth, she doesn't have any… though I guess you could count this idiot as a friend."

"Rui has friends! She's so friendly!" Hinata interjects, but quickly silences at the intense look from Sugawara.

"She's friendly, but has no friends. I hear some girls in my class talking about it- they don't approach her because she's too good for them. Top grades, national champion, she won the Point Guard award as a first year." Tsukishima lists, before looking directly at Sugawara. "You're blind if you haven't seen that."

Sugawara's jaw tightens, but doesn't say anything.

"Come on guys, let's go back to practice." Daichi says seeing the brewing look on Sugawara's face.

"She spends all her spare time on you. It's not much, with the amount of time she spends studying and on basketball, not to mention reading." Kageyama says icily, looking through the window. "It's quite easy to notice none of her friends are ever at your house."

Sugawara lifts his gaze to the first year who took his place, and can't hide the conflict in his eyes.

"Where's Rui?" Kageyama asks again.

"I don't know." Sugawara replies, and Kageyama's eyes widen.

"You don't know?"

"She ran off."

"She ran off? There's basically a storm out there are you crazy?!" Kageyama yells, before grabbing his volleyball jacket as he runs for the door.

"Kageyama!" There are shouts behind him, but he sprints straight out the door, and towards the exit of the school. There are no signs as to where she had gone, but he's already soaked to the bone, and he needs to find her.

He runs past the school gates, and crosses the road, but realises he has no idea where she would've gone. Somehow his instinct tells him she wouldn't have gone anywhere special, would've wanted to be anywhere. So he just carried on running, the jacket under his t-shirt to be kept dry.

 **Rui's POV**

My legs had stopped running. I'm in a park, though I'm not sure which one, sitting on the floor leaning against the leg of a bench. I'm not really sure if I'm crying anymore, it's all just mixed with rain.

What used to be an overwhelming feeling of sadness has just emptied out to a point where my mind is empty. I can't think. It's just the drips of rain onto my skin that gives some substance to my mind.

"Rui! Rui!" I hear shouting, but can't bring my head to move, but my eyes slowly turn. I recognise that voice.

"Rui?" His image is blurred by the rain, but his tall figure is something my brain can easily process. There's a warmth on my shoulder, and I look up.

"Tobio?"

"Come on Rui." He murmurs softly, before reaching underneath my arms to lift me onto my feet. It's then that the shivers start. "Rui?" I can't move my legs forward, and before I know it my feet are off the ground.

He carries me to a sheltered area of the park, and sits down on a bench with me still in his arms.

"Here, I have a jacket." He tells me, but I can barely move, my arms are numb and wracking with shivers. He takes out his issued Karasuno jacket, which feels warm to touch, but my mumbled brain seems to remember some form of sense.

"Wait." I murmur, before peeling my school shirt from my form, unaware of the violent blush adorning Tobio's cheeks. I have a cropped vest top on underneath that's also wet, but soon Tobio moves my numbed arms into his jacket, and it instantly starts to warm me up.

A sense of presence returns to me and I blink with a blush as I realise I am sitting on Tobio's lap sideways after he carried me bridal style over here. Not to mention I'm curled into him, and his arms are wrapped firmly around me.

"Where are we?" I ask softly.

"It's a park, on the east side of school." Tobio tells me. "Are you okay?"

He doesn't mention Koshi, and I'm glad he doesn't because though I can avoid thinking about him too hard, if he's brought up I'll probably start crying again.

"Mmhm. How did you find me… in fact why are you even out here? You'll freeze!" I say to him, but trail off realising I did exactly the same.

"I had to find you of course, I couldn't have you freezing either." He says, though suddenly turns slightly mechanical. My head is resting against his chest, and my hands are clutching his sweatshirt, the rain still pouring down around us.

"… thanks for finding me Tobio." I murmur, looking him straight in the eye. "You're the only one I really care about right now." I say softly, and the light blush that lights up his face mirrors onto mine, slightly more fiery as I realise how corny that just sounded.

My blush turns stronger as he doesn't reply, and look away, deciding to just snuggle into his warmth and ignore how close that was to saying I liked him.

"I couldn't just leave you out here… I…" Tobio trails off, looking extremely embarrassed. "… I care about you too." He keeps his eyes firmly away from me as a small but joyful smile adorns my face.

"I'm serious, Tobio. Thank you." I repeat, and he finally looks back at me, and I'm taken aback at just how close our faces are, and my eyes flicker to his lips before I can think.

Then all of a sudden there's a startling heat on my lips, and my eyes widen as Tobio's face is that much closer. Butterflies erupt in my stomach as my eyes flutter close and I kiss back before he could think otherwise. His lips start to move tentatively against mine and I turn my body to face his, and my arms move up to rest on his shoulders.

By the time the rain has stopped, one of his hands rest tightly against my waist, his other holding my wet hair back as now my arms are resting on his shoulders and my hands threaded through his hair in attempt to get closer.

"Hm?" As I realise the outside has gotten lighter as the clouds depart, I pull away blushing.

We meet eyes and start blushing as I put a little more distance between our bodies.

"It's still drizzling… but my house is nearby. We can go and get warm." Tobio suggests to me, the dark flush still on his cheeks.

"That's probably a good idea." I nod, and as I move to get off his lap, Tobio takes my hand.

"It's this way." He murmurs, leading me into the light drizzle. We jog lightly and it barely takes a minute to reach a five storey apartment complex, and he pulls me inside. He doesn't let go of my hand as he takes me in the lift, and presses the button to the fourth floor.

"Will your parents be in?" I ask nervously, realising I'm really only in a tiny vest top and Tobio's jacket.

"No. My dad's away a lot on business trips, and my mum is visiting her friend in Tokyo who's in hospital I think." Tobio says, but somehow that doesn't calm my nerves. We just kissed… for the first time, and now we're going to his home alone? There's no point denying it, I've liked him for a bit now, but…

Tobio types in a passcode and the door unlocks, and we go into a spacious kitchen with cool white and pale blue décor. Around the corner I can see a spacious lounge and a set of stairs going up. Much more spacious than I anticipated… Tobio's family must be better off than I realised.

"Do you want to shower to get warm? I have clothes you can wear." Tobio says scratching the back of his neck, and I realise my school skirt and socks are still completely soaked, not to mention my hair and I'm still cold despite the heating.

"Okay." I say, sniffing slightly. I hope I don't get ill from this, though I can't say I regret running out if it resulted in my first kiss with Tobio.

"This way." He says and I follow him up the stairs, and into a room with light grey walls, a dark wood bed, navy sheets and light blue curtains. This must be his room. It's got almost nothing in it, a dark wood desk with some random schoolwork that must have been due last week, some weights lying on the floor, and stacks of manga. But it's all very orderly and tidy.

Tobio moves over to a dark wood wardrobe, and pulls out a t-shirt and some trackies for me, though I can tell straight away they'll be massive on me. He takes my hand again and a small smile gets back on my face as he leads me into his adjoining bathroom.

"Here, you just turn this." After showing me how to use his shower he hurries out of the room, and I smile lightly with a chuckle. As I undress and get into the shower, my mind is laden with thoughts. Does this mean we're in a relationship? I mean we haven't talked about it, but he did move to kiss me, does that mean he likes me? We certainly can't go back to how we were before, I won't be able to look at him without blushing.

I wonder what people will think. The volleyball club, especially Tanaka-san has been hinting at it plenty, but the others… Koshi.

I had almost forgotten our earlier argument. Almost. I don't know what to do. I didn't think helping out at the volleyball club made him so angry, I didn't realise something like that could. He said he didn't want my help, but I wasn't helping… I guess I can understand that but I didn't help out in order to actually help, I helped out because I wanted to spend more time with him. I thought things were getting better, but nothing's changed. It may have even gotten worse.

I step out the shower with a grim look on my face, though a lot warmer. I take one of the dark blue towels from the heating rack and dry my body and hair, then move to put Tobio's clothes on. As I loop the black t-shirt over my head, I almost sweat drop as it drops right above my knees. It's longer than my school skirt. I decide not to bother with the trackies, so just tread out in the very oversized t-shirt.

Tobio is lying on his bed, flicking through the mange book that was on his bedside table, and he puts it down straight away as he looks up. I notice how he had it open before his bookmark though.

"Are you alright?" He asks and I nod, putting his trackies down on the side. I can't help the heavy sigh that leaves me after my thinking in the shower, and before I know it Tobio's hand lies on my shoulder.

"I… er… do you want to talk about it?" Tobio stutters slightly, obviously not used to the situation. I normally make up a good amount of our conversation after all.

"Not really." I murmur, but proceed to anyway. "I just don't know what to do about him anymore. He doesn't want me around."

"I'm sure he doesn't mean that." Tobio consoles, pulling me to sit down on his bed.

"He does Tobio! He kept on saying how he didn't want my help, and how I shouldn't be around the volleyball team." I say looking down at the floor. "He said none of you want a winner around loser, and that I'm on the other side. But I'm not."

"He's just upset because of the interhigh… we all are. It's a natural reaction to hate the winners, he's just letting it out on you instead of Seijoh since they're not around." Tobio reasons with me, and I'm aware of his hand stroking my back as I move to lean into him more.

"But don't you hate me then?"

"I hate Oikawa. He's my enemy. You're not on the winning side in volleyball anyway, you're on my side." He murmurs. "And we just happen to be the losers this time. Not next time though."

I look up to him and realise I hadn't even talked to him about his loss either, since he was avoiding everyone before volleyball practice.

"Not next time. You're stronger than that." I tell him. "Think about all the extra time you'll have to practice with Hinata. Think about all the time you'll have to pick up new strategies. Volleyball is a team sport, more so than basketball by so far, that you winning the interhigh would've been so hard with such little time together. You'll be ready this time."

Tobio meets eyes with me, and a determined smile reaches his face.

"We'll be ready this time. I officially appoint you my training buddy." He tells me.

"Huh?"

"Well… you used to play setter, but you can spike my tosses too, not to mention… well you… you can tell me what I'm doing wrong. I don't notice things like you do."

"You mean people things. Like Tshukishima's feint? He can do a lot more than that." I say to him. "Hinata can probably expand his different types of attacks too. His normal fast attacks are quite predictable for the higher teams. A feint for him would be a great idea too."

"See? You're already helping. You can bring your study books to practice, I won't keep you from them." Tobio says with a grin and I smile. How can he have made me smile so quickly?

"I don't know what I'm going to do at home though. If we didn't avoid each other enough… mum and dad keep on pushing for us to get closer, they'll notice when Koshi starts glaring at me throughout dinner." I murmur sadly. "I don't want to go home."

"… You can stay here if you want." Tobio's voice is incredibly quiet and unsure, as I glance up to him slightly surprised. "I mean- only if you're comfortable with it, we have a spare room, and of course no your parents will be expecting you and-"

"I'd love to stay… if it's alright with you. I can text my mum now?" I question as Tobio was slowly winding himself tighter and tighter.

"… yeah." He mutters.

"You should shower too Tobio, you're still wet." I say to him. He nods and stands slightly stiffly as I move to my stuff to get my phone. I quickly text my mum, making the simple excuse of staying over at Chou-chan's for basketball practice. It's a straight lie, though Chou-chan is in the basketball club she's nowhere near as dedicated as I am, we basically only talk about first-year stuff, but she's my closest friend other than Tobio. I go downstairs and take a face-value look around his family's apartment. They have a spare room, so that means three bedrooms, Tobio has his own bathroom and there's another main bathroom. The lounge and kitchen are very spacious, with a space set with a table and what seems to be a study further along.

I find my way into the kitchen, and root around in the draws. I know I'm hungry, which means Tobio must be twice as hungry, so I find a pack of prawn-flavored noodles and start to put three portions into boiling water. Just as I open the fridge and find multiple packs of chicken thighs, I hear Tobio coming down the stairs, and try not to stare too hard as he's just wearing a t-shirt and shorts, but as he ruffles his damp hair with a towel he looks so… adorable, handsome, gorgeous… I could go on.

"I'm cooking noodles, I thought you'd be hungry by now." I say, and start dicing some chicken up.

"Thanks." He says shortly.

"If you're parents are away do you cook? There's a lot of chicken in the fridge." I question him, and he blinks slightly.

"I can cook egg. My mum told me how to cook a chicken omelette, but I burnt it and haven't tried again." He says bluntly, and I can't help but chuckle. It suits him to not be able to cook.

"Can you cook rice, noodles?" I ask.

"I burn them."

"How do you burn rice?" I laugh lightly, and he smiles slightly.

"You'll just have to come over and cook for me." He says, and I smile back, trying to ignore the somersaults my stomach is in.

We stay in silence as he plays on his phone while I finish up chicken noodles with beansprouts, spring onion and radish which I found in the fridge, and we go over to the table to eat.

And all of a sudden it's even quieter.

We both keep on glancing up at each other as we eat, and I'm sure we're both thinking about the same thing. That kiss.

"Tobio-"

"Rui-"

I cut off and motion for him to continue, but he's also shut up.

"You speak first." I tell him, and a deep blush spirals across his face once more for this evening.

"Er… um… Ifskinddofsflidkesdfyou" He mumbles, and I barely catch a word he's saying, but I somehow get the jist.

"Hm?"

Tobio sighs, and looks up at me.

"I like you, Rui." He says softly, and as his blush deepens mine does as my lips part.

"I like you too Tobio." I murmur back.

"Will you be my… uh… girlfriend?" Tobio looks extremely uncomfortable even saying the word, and I smile. The fact he even had the courage to speak about this warms me, the fact that he's actually doing this-

"Yes. Of course, Tobio." I say warmly, picking up both our dishes. I purse my lips for a second, and before I can take it back I lean down and peck him on the cheek. I see his eyes widen in surprise, but turn away and hurry towards the kitchen before I can see the rest of his reaction.

Only seconds later his arms are curled tightly around me and he's pecked me back on the cheek.

"You don't get to surprise me like that." He grumbles and I lean my head back onto his shoulder with a smile.

12321

 **Third Person**

After they put the dishes away, Rui insisted on looking through his manga selection, filled with sword-fighting action manga, her favorite as well. After picking one she hadn't read before, they sat down on his bed.

"Rui?" Kageyama had looked at the time realising how late it was, and that they should get to sleep soon. But when he looked up, his girlfriend was fast asleep, sitting on his bed leaning against the headboard. Girlfriend. He couldn't believe what had happened today. Sure, he knew since they first had lunch on the roof that he liked her. Easy to talk to, into sports, intelligent, not to mention extraordinarily beautiful. She definitely didn't realise it, but the he'd heard it everywhere, Sugawara Rui, gorgeous long charcoal grey hair, tall for Japanese, yet she had curves most didn't possess. On multiple occasions Kageyama had had to remind himself to stop staring at her body, but his subconscious had been traitorous. Even now, his eyes followed the curve of her waist in between the more voluminous parts of her body, and then her pale toned legs lying out before her.

He shook his head, determined not to let his thoughts wonder. It's not like she was sleeping, in his bed, in his home, with no one else around. Oh shit.

He went to move her so she was lying much more comfortably in the bed, and lifted her under the covers, bookmarking his favourite manga she was reading. But as he tried to move away from her sleeping form, her hand that he had been holding pulled, and he tripped forward.

She sighed in her sleep, and brought his hand closer and proceeded to wrap her arms round his whole arm, not wanting him to leave.

He should really leave. What would it look like? She's only just become his girlfriend, and then sleeping together in the same bed?

His mind was conflicted. But then, she let out… a whimper, and he felt his sensible mind melt. There was no way in hell he was going to leave her after the ordeal she had gone through today.

So, he lifted up the covers, and slipped in closer, pointedly ignoring how she nuzzled into his chest and curled herself closer.

 **Another chapter up! Sorry I've been away, I've been on holiday, not to mention I probably won't be able to update for at least a fortnight from now as well, but I hope you can bear with me! This chapter… omg there was so much fluff, I know, I didn't intend for it to be so cheesy, with them stopping their first kiss as the rain stopped, and the awkward will you be my girlfriend, but I just had to! Also, if anyone thinks they're going fast for a fifteen year old relationship, I don't know what it's actually like in japan, so I'm just going on my experiences, and though fifteen is quite young for a proper relationship, this is supposed to be canon so oh well. Not to mention this fic will be more on the adult side, definitely in comparison to the manga/anime, hence why this is rated T, and in my mind, Rui and Kageyama have been close friends for a could couple of months, and they're just a fast-moving couple. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this fluffy adorable chapter! Read and review as always!**


	8. Chapter 8

The light's shining on my eyes wakes me, in foreign surroundings. The bed is comfy, but navy sheets cover me in the simple room. I hear a shower running, and vaguely wonder whether Tobio is the kind to shower in the morning rather than the evening, even though he showered yesterday evening.

My boyfriend. Yesterday seems so unreal… the argument with Koshi… the rain… the kiss…

Somewhere in my mind registered the shower being turned off, but I don't want to leave the lingering warmth of the covers. Wait… this is Tobio's room, I was supposed to sleep in the guest room.

The en suite bathroom door opens and Tobio steps out, and blushes as he looks at me.

"Um… good morning." He mumbles.

"Good morning Tobio, sorry for stealing your bed." I say with a smile, but his blush only deepens and he turns his face away.

"Yeah, it's fine." He mutters. "I'm going to get breakfast ready… you can take anything you need."

"Thanks." I say slightly awkwardly as he leaves the room. As I climb out of the bed I contemplate for a while if I should change clothes, but Tobio's t-shirt is all I really have and its easily long enough to wear out, it could even be called fashionable.

I laugh aloud. Tobio and fashionable aren't words I put together, it's just right now athleisure is so popular that he just looks to be following trends.

I tread downstairs after him and murmur thanks as he sets the table for us both.

"I can't believe it's another day of school after all that happened yesterday." I say, and Tobio just nods not really meeting my eyes and focussing on eating.

"It's straight into Japanese history, bad luck for you." I continue, my brows furrowing as I notice Tobio's unresponsive posture. "Tobio, is something the matter-?"

"I'm really sorry I slept with you last night!"

"Huh?!" A million thoughts rush through my head as I try not to jump to conclusions.

"It was really late and you were already on my bed and then you were asleep and then I intended to leave but the you grabbed onto me and then I fell asleep and I'm really sorry it was so inappropriate to do that I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He rapidly stands and bows repeatedly and I hurry to catch him by the shoulder.

"Stop doing that Tobio you'll hurt yourself!" I say as he looks back at me with a bashful look.

"…sorry."

I laugh lightly as I try to gather my thoughts.

"Wait… so you're sorry you slept in your own bed last night? Tobio I was the one who fell asleep in your bed, if it's anyone's fault it's mine." I say sweetly.

"So… you aren't angry?"

"Tobio, in all honesty… I don't mind physical contact that much." I say, suddenly realising my words and hurriedly looking away. "I mean… I find being close to certain people comforting… so I don't mind it at all. I probably slept a lot better with you being there." My face feels like it's on fire as I explain, before biting my lip and sitting back down.

"Come on, let's eat we do have to get to school, and I need to go home first for uniform." I say, overtly trying to change the subject.

"So you like physical contact? Like… hugs?" Tobio says, as though he's never heard of the word hug before.

"I was trying to change the subject…" I mumble to myself. "Yes, I like hugs. But obviously if you don't like skinship that's fine too."

Tobio seems to become lost in his own thought, so I quickly finish eating and clear away.

12321

"Come on, let's go Tobio." I call as I bend down to tie my shoelaces. As I stand up I feel a warmth on my back and Tobio is helping me put my coat on. "Ah- thanks."

"I'll walk you home and wait for you." He says, opening the door for me as we start to walk down the stairs.

"No, you don't have to. In fact it may be better if not since my mum is home and I… I kinda told her I was staying at Chou-chan's, so if you walk me there and wait outside it'll be suspiscious." I admit.

"You didn't tell her you were with me?" Tobio questions as we step outside.

"Er- well how do you think she would've reacted if I told her I was staying alone with just you?" I supply, and Tobio's face goes pink.

"Fair enough." He says and we start walking. "I'll drop you off at the end of your road then."

"Do you have volleyball after school today again?" I ask and his eyebrows scrunch up.

"I don't know, I'll have to ask." He replies. "You have basketball, right?"

"Yeah, we've reduced practices to only twice a week after school for this month since its time for upperclassmen to get going with their university applications, and even after that we have another month and a half of full practice till the next national competition." I tell him.

"…Our prelims are after yours then? For the spring tournament?" He says.

"Yeah, by a couple of weeks-woah!" I accidently start to cross the road when a bicycle rider wizzes past, and Tobio pulls me in by the waist.

"Are you alright? Be careful!" Tobio says, and I notice he's right above my face as I look up.

"That was close, thanks Tobio. I can't believe my reflexes were so slow." I say.

"It's a blind corner." Tobio says, and after looking thoroughly we cross the road. After a few moments, it hits me his arm is snug around my waist, his hand resting comfortably on my hipbone.

"Er… Tobio you don't have to hold me." I mumble quietly slightly embarrassed.

"Huh?" He questions, and I look up just as he looks down, as I'm sure his blushing gaze is mirrored on mine as we both refuse to look away. "I thought you liked physical contact?"

"I do, but you don't have to do it if you don't want to." I reply, finally looking away. Tobio's socially awkward as it is, I don't want to make him feel worse.

"What makes you think I don't want to?" I'm struck out of my thoughts as Tobio retorts back, face closer to mine than ever. I can't find any words in me to reply.

"You know you're asking a guy whether he wants to touch you or not? Are you crazy?" He says. And my blush deepens as words desert both of us.

Ah… I really am stupid. I know Tobio's quiet and a little awkward and I like that about him but… what was I thinking, he is a guy.

At least he doesn't mind.

After my face has cooled down a reasonable amount, I turn my body towards Tobio as we walk and place my hands lightly on the lapels of his school blazer, which in turn wraps his arm firmer around my body.

He guides our steps and I could almost close my eyes at the comfort I get from this. My head feels fuzzy and warm.

"I'll leave you here." He says as we get to my road, and as I curl out of his arms I take his hand.

"Thanks." I say softly with a small smile, and the corners of Tobio's straight face lift, ever so slightly. As corny as it sounds, as I walk towards my house and he turns the other way, the warmth of my hand makes me smile.

And then my day gets much, much worse.

12321

"Rui-chan, how was it at Chou-chan's? I'm glad you had some time off, you work so hard." My mum greets as I enter the house.

"It was fun mum, I'm just back for school clothes." I say hugging her. "Actually, do we have any painkillers? I feel like I'm getting a headache."

"Go upstairs and get changed, I'll get you some." When I come back down around half an hour later, my mum's waiting.

"Is your headache bad?" She asks me and I frown slightly as the fuzzy feeling has gotten a lot worse.

"I don't really know…" I say as I pick up the glass of water and the pills. My mum comes up to me and places her hand on my forehead, and I see her eyes right in front of me, go wide.

"Rui dear, you're burning up!"

"I am?"

And there started the rush of my mum getting me back out of my school uniform, and straight into my bed. I couldn't get any rest as I rolled around in bed, even though my headache was dulled by the painkillers. My body had gone all clammy, and I felt like shit. My throat feels scratchy, I feel hot and cold all over, I'm sweating profusely yet I feel like I'm shivering.

"Here, drink up."

"Mum, it's disgusting!" I moan as she feeds me the bitter herbal tea that she believes heals all ills. I manage half of it before just shaking my head.

"What were you doing yesterday? Or even this morning? Were you drinking enough?"

"…I probably didn't drink enough water…" I mumble, curling up deeper into my covers.

"What about sleep? You didn't stay up all night with Chou-chan did you?"

"No mum… we went to sleep quite early." I mumble, going through yesterday's events. "Ah…actually, I was out in the rain for quite a bit."

"Darling! You should take better care of yourself!"

"Mum, what do you think is the best way to take care of my schoolwork?" I ask her and her frown increases.

"You should not be thinking about work when you have a 40 degree temperature! I do know you've got all your homework for next week done already, you are my daughter." She scolds as she leaves, and I moan and roll over, before eventually falling into a lull of sleep.

12321

"Rui? Darling?" I hear my name being called and I purse my lips as I look up.

"There's someone here to see you." I hear my mum say as I force my eyes open.

"Tobio?" I question, and I blink extremely confused. I'm not hallucinating am I…?

There in the middle of my room stands Tobio, dead straight looking slightly flustered.

"I'm here to deliver your schoolwork." He says.

"Yes, well lets air the room out, darling do you want to sit up or?" My mum busies herself as I push myself up onto my elbows and sit up fully, as my mum leads Tobio onto a cushion next to my bed.

"You said there's a Japanese history essay she needs to look through? Rui-chan do you feel up to it?"

"I'm sure I can manage." I say, when I know I can't. My whole head feels like its teetering off a cliff and I can barely remember what Japanese history is. I just want Tobio to hug me like he was this morning… that would be nice…

My mum leaves the room as Tobio opens up his notebook and starts reading out his notes.

"What's going on Tobio… you don't even make notes, and you've written the two sections in the wrong order, they should be chronological this is history." I murmur, my voice croaky and slow.

"Thank God, if you're saying that you mustn't be too ill." Is all he says, and then shuffles forward.

"Are you alright? I tried making notes like you do… but I got confused, what are the bits you usually do in red?" He says, his eyebrows pulling together.

"Instructions on exam technique." I smile lightly. "What are you doing here Tobio?"

"…Ah… well… you should have told me you were feeling ill." He retorts moodily out of context and I blink. "I was back at school and you didn't arrive, and then I thought something could've happened."

"How did you know I was ill then?" I ask.

"I had to ask sensei. I really need your phone number now." He says and I recite my number to him in reply.

"Is there anything you need, or do you want to do something?" He asks me and I shake my head.

"I haven't been ill for ages… this feels horrible." I mumble.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something? I have my laptop with me." Tobio suggests.

"Let's finish Battle Royale, we only got fifteen minutes in that lunchtime." I say smiling slightly, and Tobio takes out his laptop and places it at the end of my bed. As he moves to sit beside me on my bed, as much as I want him to…

"No, there'll be too many germs… I know it's a temperature not a cold, but you shouldn't get too close." I say regretfully. All the same he just nods and gets another cushion to make himself comfy by my bedside, and leans on his elbows on my bed as he hits play.

Of course, we're in silence as we watch, but after a particularly thrilling scene I suddenly notice the heat covering my body is different to the one surrounding my hand, and when I glance down, sure enough my hand is enclosed in Tobio's. The corners of my lips lift up, and as the dialogue in the movie dwindles…

"Thanks for coming… it's made me happy."

He doesn't reply, but there's an increase in pressure on my hand as he squeezes it after my cheesy confession.

12321

My temperature hadn't come down by the next day, so while I was another day at home, my mind was at rest knowing Tobio was indeed taking notes for me, and no matter how scrawled and messy they were, as long as they had the information, I could work with it.

As my mind cleared throughout the day, by the afternoon I felt clear enough that I opened up my file on fast win tactics, and continue where I left of brainstorming ideas. Now we're national champions, there's no way we'll be underestimated, so pretending we're worse than we are is only going to widen the point gap in our opponents' favours. Therefor we need to start on the winning side, but still leave room for expansion. Luckily none of the first-string players fully revealed all their skills, so we have surprises and anymore we can develop in the next few months to use as expansion in the later game stages.

Even though I can't lose myself in overconfidence, I know I still have many skills to unroll. In most reports I was dubbed as a Point Guard that scores three pointers, so if I really need to change the pace I can go for drive-ins, and that's an easy change up from the slower pace of three pointers. The two schemes probably end up scoring the same amount of points in one time frame because of the extra point from three point shots, but if we're ever up against more violent teams, fouls and free throws tend to mean fast drive-ins are the way to go.

By the time I hear the doorbell ring, my morale is much higher and my file much thicker, and I pull myself out of bed to go and meet Tobio in our main room.

"Kageyama so lovely of you to come by again. More schoolwork? We're very thankful, Rui is so worrisome over her schoolwork."

"Ah-yes-of course-" Tobio stutters slightly as he bows his head and I smile.

"Did we get any art homework?" I ask.

"Rui! Are you well enough to be up, honey sit down!" My mum scolds but I brush her away and move of my own will to sit down and bring Tobio over.

"No art work, but…er… apparently our knowledge was so inadequate in class, our history essay has been increased to a four point essay rather than three." Tobio tells me as he gets out his notes. As I start looking over them thanking my mum as she brings over some drinks, Tobio clarifies things for me before we both start to work on the history essay we postponed in favour of Battle Royale yesterday. Our work is quiet apart from a few queries, which is probably good since if we converse too casually, mum will probably pick up on how close we are and start questioning.

"I'm just going to go to the supermarket okay, I'll be back soon." I hear my mum call, and as the door slams Tobio looks up at me.

"When you say you're feeling better…how much better?" He asks and I frown slightly, confused.

"I fell pretty good I guess, no headache, my voice is better, my temperature is only a little high-" I break off into a laugh as Tobio slides round the table and curls me into his arms, and my head tucks easily under his.

"Hmm,I know I admitted to being a touchy person, but is my Tobio also a touchy person?" I question jokingly, and all I get is a grunt in return as he strokes my hair. I carry on writing my essay but as his hands snake round my waist I get distracted.

"Tobio, I really have to finish this I must be so behind, I've missed two days." I chide.

"No you don't, you're ahead of everyone and you know it." He murmurs and I sigh. "You could miss weeks even months and still be top of the class."

His hands pry my fingers open from my pen and I giggle slightly as I snuggle in closer.

"It feels much longer than two days. Three days ago I didn't know you liked me." I say softly, and his cheeks flush lightly.

"Well, I, er…" He trails off, obviously embarrassed by something, maybe the way I'm looking up at him, or how my hands are on his waist silently admiring the muscle build up there. "It's probably because we were really close before anyway."

"Hmm…" I nod in agreement, and lean heavier against him and into his Karasuno sports sweater.

Then all of a sudden we hear the door unlock and we're out of each other's arms in a heartbeat, and I pick up my pen and try to regain my train of thought.

"Good evening, mum what's for dinner-?" Koshi breaks off as he walks in and meets my eyes. I swallow as my mouth waters in anxiety, as neither of us break eye contact.

Until Tobio blocks the view.

"Kageyama-kun, what are you doing here?" Koshi asks, surprise turning into authoritive upperclassman. "You've missed practice two days in a row!"

What? How could I have forgotten, we were talking about it before I got home that morning! There's no way Tobio would've missed volleyball!

"Yeah, well I was here, looking after _your_ sister." Tobio retorts strongly, and my breath catches. There's a moment of silence and though I can't see it, I can tell the boys are now staring off.

"Rui, you'll be in big trouble with mum for having a boy round-"

"She knows Tobio is here, he came round yesterday too to give me schoolwork." I say coldly.

"Tobio, you should've gotten someone else to give them to her, you're needed at practice-"

"Stop pretending to be the oh so good upperclassman Koshi, everyone sees straight through you. I hope you enjoyed these last two days of practice, it'll be the last time you see the position of first setter."

 **I'm back! Kind of. This is ridiculously late, and in all honestly life got in the way as well as a little writer's block, so I apologise for that, but I'm starting to realise anime/manga fanfics are harder to write than books, since getting my usual amount of description to match the style of animation is hard! Anyway, this chapter was mostly fluffy, a bit nothing-y really but I hope you can all bear with me until I get into my stride again! Read and review as always!**


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